Trinidad & Tobago will host the next Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) conference on Sustainable Tourism Development in 2013, the CTO has announced.

In a symbolic passing of the baton, deputy permanent secretary at the Trinidad & Tobago ministry of tourism, Raye Sandy, received the CTO Sustainable Tourism Mahogany Scroll from Guyana’s tourism minister, Irfaan Ali, at the closing of STC-13.

The event saw Trinidad & Tobago confirmed as host of the 14th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-14).

“We are truly honoured to host STC-14 in Trinidad and Tobago,” said Raye Sandy.

“We look forward to hosting a varied conference that builds on the learnings of STC-13 and showcases Trinidad and Tobago’s sustainable tourism product.”

The CTO, organiser of the annual conference on sustainability in the Caribbean, will begin discussions soon with Port of Spain around a suitable conference date, which will be announced in the coming months.

Work is also expected to begin on a conference programme shortly.

Trinidad hosted the second STC in April 1998, while STC-7 was held in Tobago in April 2009.

STC-13, held in Guyana, ran from April 14th-18th at the Guyana Conference Centre in.

Over 300 delegates – including tourism industry officials and the media – participated in a series of seminars, workshops and study tours aimed at setting the foundation on which to develop a world class sustainable tourism product in the region and tackle common sustainability issues in the travel industry.

The 13th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development was organized by the CTO in collaboration with the Guyana Tourism Authority.