The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the Caribbean’s official tourism development agency, has selected St Kitts and Nevis for the chairmanship of the organisation for the next two years.

Following a vote by the CTO’s Council of Ministers, the Hon. Ricky Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and International Transport for St Kitts and Nevis, succeeded the Hon. John Maginley of Antigua and Barbuda as the organisation’s chairman.

“These are challenging times for tourism around the world, but no sector is more critical to our region’s economic future,” Sen. Skerritt said. “I believe that with the right leadership strategy I am confident that we can achieve our goal of establishing the Caribbean as the world’s premier warm-weather destination, with genuinely caring people and world class products.”

The vote took place on 10 October, the eve of the CTO’s first ever leadership strategy conference, which brings together delegates from more than 30 countries to hear from global tourism leaders and discuss some of the key issues facing this critical sector. Sessions at the conference include security, taxes, new market development, aviation, destination branding and the growing use of social media to build a tourism brand.