Above: Port of Spain (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Caribbean nations must work together to promote the region as a tourism destination, Trinidad Tourism Minister Stephen Cadiz said last week at a summit of regional tourism ministers.

“We must view each other not as competitors, but as partners in promoting our tourism brand to the rest of the world,” said Cadiz, who was hosting ministers from southern Caribbean countries in Port of Spain to discuss the planned Southern Caribbean Cruise Initiative. “Only through collaboration can this initiative be successful.”

The plan is for countries like Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and St Lucia to work together to court cruise operators to the southern portion of the Caribbean.

The group discussed immigration and customs, room stock, ship size, port development and the logistics of increased cruise service, among other issues, according to a statement from Grenada’s government.

The assembled ministers also drafted a cruise itinerary to take to major players in the industry such as Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Lines to “sell the Southern Route to them and create a positive outcome,” Cadiz said.