CTO participated with a stand together with Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, MKI (Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos) and St Kitts/St Vincent & the Grenadines, whereas Barbados, Cuba, Dominican Republic, French Caribbean (i.e. Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Martin & St Barths, who exhibited joint for the first time ever with a joint stand) and many private sector members participated with a stand of their own.
According to the organisers (Reed Exhibitions) the 24th edition of French leading travel trade show registered 13,586 visitors, only slightly more than last year (13,472 in 2001), which confirmed the success of this event.
A giant puzzle of the Caribbean region was produced to invite visiting Travel Agents to place the pieces made out for each CTO Member State, which were distributed throughout the `Caribbean Village` on the map. At the end of each day a prize draw was organised on the CTO/CTC stand that allowed all participants to compete for a free stay in the Caribbean. Sponsors included Jolly Beach Resort (Antigua) and Le Flamboyant (St Martin), as well as the Bahamas Tourist Office and `Des Hotels & Des Iles`.
Furthermore, the Comite Touristique des Caraibes (CTO Chapter France) launched the new training manual, for which advance reservations were received from many Travel Agents. Our new representative in France, Express Conseil, also announced a Caribbean workshop, to be hosted in Paris late November 2002, and a Caribbean Road Show throughout the French provinces in Spring 2003.
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