Leading Caribbean Tourism Conference Kicks Off in Barbados

The Caribbean’s leading tourism conference kicked off Wednesday night at the Hilton Barbados resort.

This year’s conference is being held under the theme “Honoring Our Legacy, Defining Our Future.”

The conference brings together stakeholders from across the wider Caribbean, from tourism ministers and commissioners to hotel and airline executives to travel agents and media.

The Hilton Barbados, home to the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s State of the Industry Conference this year.

It was preceded earlier this week by CTO business gatherings, including the meetings of the CTO board of directors and the Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism.

General sessions begin on Sept. 15, following a keynote address by Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals Resorts International.

Some of the panels this week will include Delivering the Luxury Experience, Capturing the Multi-Cultural and Emerging Markets, Is Tourism Entering a New and Difficult Age? and The Sharing Economy: Opportunity or Threat? , among others.

The latter panel will include an appearance by Mikel Freemon, regional manager for the Caribbean at Airbnb.

The conference lasts through Sept. 16.