The Cayman Islands will be playing host to a pair of high-profile Caribbean gatherings in September. 

The Caribbean Tourism Organization will be holding its Business Meetings from Sept. 12-15 in Cayman, the first major in-person event program for the CTO since the onset of the pandemic. 

And the International Air Transport Association will be hosting Caribbean Aviation Day on Sept. 14 during the same event. 

The meeting will be attended by ministers of Caribbean Tourism Organization member countries, directors of tourism, senior executives, media and regional students who participate in the Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress. 

“It is a great honor to be the host country for this significant conference and we look forward to welcoming CTO and the delegations from the member countries to the Cayman Islands,” said Cayman Islands Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan. “The CTO does vital work for the region, and this is an opportunity for regional Ministers and industry leaders to meet face-to-face to have key discussions as the region continues to recover from the pandemic and plan for the future.”

The CTO conference will include a meeting of the Barbados-based organization’s Board of Directors, a meeting of the Council of Ministers and the election of the chairman of the CTO’s Council of Ministers. 

“The tourism sector and the Caribbean as a whole have faced severe challenges over the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic but have confronted these with a tenacity which has further demonstrated the resilience of the sector,” said Acting CTO Secretary-General, Neil Walters. ““For some months, there have been distinct signs pointing to a robust recovery by the sector, underlined by the fact that the Caribbean is among the regions experiencing the fastest rates of growth since mid-2021 and in some cases outpacing the rest of the world. The CTO believes this is an optimal moment for industry leaders to collaborate and strategize.”

As for the IATA-hosted Caribbean Aviation Day, the event will bring together top executives from airlines and the tourism industry in the region, along with government ministers. 

“The current spirit of cooperation with governments in the region will enable aviation along with the entire tourism and travel value chain to play a key role in the region’s post-pandemic economic and social recovery,” said Peter Cerda, IATA’s Regional Vice President for the Americas.

Cayman Islands Director of Tourism Rosa Harris said the conference was a “chance for collaboration between the government and the private sector as well as our regional colleagues as we work to make tourism more sustainable and inclusive, both in the Cayman Islands and the region.”