Caribbean hotel chief says focus should be on region’s warm welcome…
The Caribbean needs to shake off its reputation as the most tourism-dependent region in the world and become known as the most welcoming.
This was the message from Patricia Affonso-Dass, president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, who kicked off the 37th annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Jamaica this week.
She said it was time to change the way the world references the Caribbean, which she believes should be known as the ‘most desirable, most tolerant and inclusive, most welcoming, most hospitable, most facilitative and investment-friendly, and most environmentally sensitive region in the world’.
The Barbados-based hotelier told delegates that in a world that often appears dominated by ‘divisiveness, fear and uncertainty’, the Caribbean region should continue to ‘stand strong and united, to be synonymous with a genuine welcome, an authentic experience and excellent service delivered with soul and pride’.
Caribbean Travel Marketplace hosted the largest group of buyers in its history from the widest number of countries, including the largest contingent of Chinese travel buyers to date.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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