CARICOM sets up $60 million fund to market tourism

Speaking Wednesday at a press conference in Antigua and Barbuda where the 29th Summit of CARICOM heads is being held, St Lucia's Tourism Minister Allen Chastanet, who also chairs the regional tourism committee, said it has been acknowledged that the Cari

ST JOHN'S, Antigua, July 4, 2008 – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government have agreed to set up a US$60 million fund which will be used for marketing the region's tourism as a diverse, single product.

Speaking Wednesday at a press conference in Antigua and Barbuda where the 29th Summit of CARICOM heads is being held, St Lucia's Tourism Minister Allen Chastanet, who also chairs the regional tourism committee, said it has been acknowledged that the Caribbean is in dire need of an effective inter-regional airline that will support this new marketing initiative. The aim will be to target both traditional and new markets.

Of the US$60 million, US$21 million will be provided equitably by regional governments and a task force has been charged to come up with recommendations on how the remaining funds will be secured.

As lead Minister in the CARICOM quasi-Cabinet, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo will work with Bahamian counterpart Hubert Ingraham on the development of a policy and to move forward the concept of agro-tourism, which the regional heads said is vital and should be taken on board.

The heads also highlighted the need for the fund, considering that countries like Guyana, Suriname and Belize which promote eco-tourism, are unable to fund or sustain marketing campaigns. The leaders also pointed to the benefit of a diverse tourism product.

"In the past, all the emphasis was placed on sun, sand and sea tourism – that is, countries like St Lucia, Antigua, St Vincent and the Grenadines, etcetera, so that we want to see, in the marketing plan, multi destination packages so people come to Barbados, St Lucia, but they also come to Guyana for nature tourism, eco-tourism, adventure tourism," said Guyana's Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad. "So that's what we're hoping to get out of this."

"We have to come up with mechanisms as to how we can tackle this and go into emerging markets such as Russia, China, India, Latin America, Austria and Ireland," he added.

According to Mr Prashad, tourism accounts for 2.4 million jobs in the Caribbean and is the world's fastest growing industry.