The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Hon. P.J. Patterson, is to be the first recipient of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)‘s Distinguished Service Award, the regional tourism development agency has announced. Prime Minister Patterson will be presented with the award at the 32nd Annual Governments of the Caribbean State Ball on Friday, June 3, 2005 at New York’s Waldorf=Astoria.CTO introduced the award this year to honour and recognise people who have distinguished themselves in their service to the Caribbean’s tourism industry.

“Prime Minister Patterson is being honoured with this award for his many years of service to the promotion of the Caribbean as the world’s premier warm weather tourism destination,” said Pamela C. Richards, commissioner of tourism for the U.S. Virgin Islands and chairman of CTO.

“As a former minister of tourism and a long serving prime minister, Mr. Patterson has championed the tourism attributes of the Caribbean at many an international forum,” added Ms. Richards.

Mr. Patterson, a lawyer, has utilised his legal and negotiating skills in the international arena, especially as one of the leading architects of the LOME Convention between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries and the European Union, first signed in 1975.
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