With members in 129 countries, WTN (World Tourism Network) has become the voice for SMEs of the travel industry around the globe. Montenegro took a key role. The Minister of Economic Development and Tourism for the Republic of Montenegro, the Hon. Goran Đurović said why his country joined the WTN.

USA Today 10Best recently announced the winners of its annual Caribbean Readers’ Choice Awards. Soggy Dollar Bar and Hendo’s Hideout were included in the Best Caribbean Beach Bar list with Soggy Dollar Bar taking the number one spot.

The Baths National Park was named one of the best Caribbean Attractions and Callwood Rum Distillery was named one of the best Caribbean Rum Distilleries for 2023.

Having opened its doors more than five years ago, Sailrock South Caicos in Turks and Caicos has perfected its combination of luxury, sustainability and service to offer a unique Caribbean experience that’s hard to find in the western hemisphere.

Located on the island of South Caicos, known in the Turks and Caicos Islands as “The Big South” and the fishing capital of the British Overseas Territory, the five-star resort and residential villa community recently chalked up a bevy of awards, including the World’s Leading Luxury Villa Resort 2022 at the World Travel Awards in November, and the 2023 Condé Nast Johansens Best Service Award of Excellence for the Americas.

The Tenerife Carnival, considered one of the best carnivals in the world and the world’s second largest, will be dedicated to New York in this year’s edition. Declared a ‘Festival of International Tourist Interest’, the Tenerife Carnival is expected to welcome thousands of travellers to Santa Cruz, the island’s capital city, from 17^th January, when it will officially kick off. 

Federal Aviation Administration stressed that planes already in the sky were not at risk as a result of the NOTAM outage

The United States Federal Aviation Administration announced that a computer software malfunction affected the Notice to Air Missions System (NOTAM) earlier today, forcing the civil aviation regulator to suspend all domestic departures nationwide.

Two of the Caribbean’s leading bodies focused on developing and promoting the region’s tourism interests are articulating their vision for the year ahead.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) intends to build on the region’s strong industry performance of 2022, which included some destinations surpassing their record-breaking benchmark performances of 2019. Through its Operations Committee and other activities, the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) remains committed to strengthening relationships between destinations, ports and FCCA members, as well as further developing and enhancing the guest experience in destinations while expanding opportunities for stakeholders and citizens.

Under the leadership of Kenneth Bryan, Chairman of the CTO Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism and Minister of Tourism and Transport for the Cayman Islands, and Daniel Farkas, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Norwegian Cruise Line, who will serve as Chair of FCCA’s Operations Committee, respectively, the outlook for Caribbean tourism is firmly fixed on growth and sustainability.

CTO Focal Points

·         Create mechanisms to ensure that the Caribbean remains among the five fastest growing tourism regions in the world, including expansion of marketing efforts to non-traditional markets outside of the U.S., U.K. and Europe

·         Ensuring sustainable funding, including foreign direct investment, to ensure market growth and development of the sector’s key assets

·         Research, product development, including human resource development, and marketing to ensure the CTO’s continued leadership in the development of regional tourism

·         Reposition the CTO to effectively lead the region in developing tourism into a more resilient and robust sector

FCCA Operations Committee Focal Points

·         Strengthen mutual understanding and success between the cruise industry, governments, ports and other stakeholders

·         Continued partnership and collaboration efforts

·         Addressing issues related to tourism development, ports, safety and security

·         Building bilateral relationships with FCCA’s partner destinations’ private and public sectors

·         Fostering increased revenue opportunities for ports and destinations