Caribbean-based journalists bestowed an unexpected honour on Richard S. Kahn, president, Kahn Travel Communications, during the recent 26th Annual Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-26) held in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. 
During the event’s closing news conference a surprised Kahn was presented with a plaque recognising his long-standing commitment and dedication to Caribbean tourism and his nurturing of relationships with the Caribbean media. 
Over the past 14 years, Mr. Kahn has worked to develop an interest among the media in covering all aspects of the Caribbean tourism industry and in securing a strong presence for Caribbean-based reporters at industry events hosted by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA). 
He has developed and maintained a comprehensive database of Caribbean-based media outlets in order to enhance the communications flow between CTO, CHA and the individual countries of the Caribbean.
“Richard Kahn has been instrumental in increasing the communication between Caribbean and North American-based journalists and our organisation which in turn has helped raise awareness levels of the importance of the tourism industry within the Caribbean,” said Johnson Johnrose, communications officer for CTO and a former reporter who was among the individuals to honour Mr. Kahn. 
“Richard’s dedication to assisting Caribbean journalists in covering industry events is very much appreciated and for this we are recognising his efforts.”
Kahn, who has been involved with CTO and CHA for more than 25 years, first as a journalist and now as the public relations consultant for CTO in the US, also serves on the Board of Directors for CHA and the Board of Trustees for the Caribbean Hospitality Training Institute.  He is also actively involved with the CTO and CHA Foundations, both of which provide academic scholarships for Caribbean youth pursuing careers in tourism and hospitality related fields.
Related stories on Caribbean Weekly:
(06/10/03) CTO release new glossy magazine to entice visitors to the region
(20/10/03) BVI announces developments at CTC-26
(24/10/03) Tourism workshop in London will be attended by high ranking CHA members
——-