NEW YORK, NY (May 21, 2002) - Obie Wilchombe, a Parliament-elect member from West End (Grand Bahama Island) and Bimini was named Minister of Tourism for the Bahamas by the new Prime Minister, Perry Christie.  The Bahamas currently holds the chair for the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and therefore Minister Wilchombe will hold the position of CTO Chairman until the fall of 2002.

In announcing the appointment, Christie said that the Bahamas “needs to intensify its efforts in traditional markets as well as open up new markets, while simultaneously improving the domestic tourism product.”

The Caribbean Tourism Organization is the region’s tourism development agency comprised of 32 member governments and a myriad of private sector companies with headquarters in Barbados and marketing operations in New York, London and Toronto.

The CTO’s primary objective is to provide to and through its members, the services and information needed for the development of sustainable tourism for the economic and social benefit of the Caribbean people.  The organization provides specialized support and technical assistance to member countries in the areas of marketing, human resource development, research and statistics and sustainable tourism development.

For more information, please contact CTO Headquarters at One Financial Place, Collymore Rock, St. Michael, Barbados; tel: (246) 427-5242; fax: (246) 429-3065; E-mail; [email protected].  CTO’s New York office can be reached at 80 Broad Street, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, USA; tel: (212) 635-9530; fax: (212) 635-9511; E-mail: [email protected].  CTO’s London office can be reached at 42 Westminster Palace Gardens, Artillery Row, London SW1P 1RR; tel: 171-222-4335; fax: 171-222-4325; E-mail: [email protected]; CTO Canada can be reached at Taurus House, 512 Duplex Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4R 2E3; tel: (416) 485-8724; fax: (416) 485-8256; E-mail: [email protected]. Visit CTO on the web at www.doitcaribbean.com and www.onecaribbean.org.

——-