Above: Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the UNWTO, Julio Orozco, Director of Sustainable Tourism of the ACS Hugh Riley, Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation during the signing ceremony (Photo: ACS)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Association of Caribbean States and the United Nations World Tourism Organization have signed a memorandum of understanding.

The deal, which was signed in Nassau this week, aims to “revitalize and improve collaboration and co-operation between the two organisations in the area of sustainable tourism,” according to an ACS statement.

The agreement was signed in the context of the “Tourism as a Key Sector for Development in Island States” conference held in the Bahamas earlier this week.

The meeting, which was presided over by Bahamas Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe and UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai, included officials from 50 high-level delegations from the Caribbean, including Caribbean Tourism Organization Secretary General Hugh Riley and Jamaican Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill, among others.

The conference focused on issues and challenges for small island developing states, including reaping the local benefits of tourism, climate change and air connectivity.

The conference comes ahead of a major small island developing states conference in Samoa in September, urged by the United Nations.