Above: the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman

By Alexander Britell

PARADISE ISLAND – The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association’s Board of Directors is calling on the Caribbean Heads of Government to convene a regional summit on tourism issues “within the next six months.”

The last Heads of Government summit was in July 2001.

“The CHTA and the Caribbean hotel industry see an urgent need for a Summit meeting on the highest level to deal with a variety of issues adversely impacting tourism to our region,” said Alec Sanguinetti, director general and CEO of the CHTA, in a statement. “CHTA will work diligently to make this Summit meeting a reality.”

Sanguinetti said there was a need for Caribbean governments and the tourism industry to work more closely together, due to the “centrality of tourism to future Caribbean prosperity.”

“If the Caribbean is to remain the world’s leading warm-weather tourism destination, CHTA believes that governments, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the leadership of the industry and industry partners need to develop jointly and as a matter of urgency, a strategic approach that provides sustainable long-term growth in the Caribbean tourism economy,” Sanguinetti said.

The CHTA is currently holding its annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace conference this week in the Bahamas.