BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS—The top man at the world’s leading international tourism organization will address the Caribbean’s premier tourism gathering, organized by the region’s tourism development agency.
The secretary general of the World Tourism Organization—a United Nations agency (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai, has confirmed that he will speak at the State of the Industry Conference scheduled for October 11 to 13, 2012, in St. Kitts. The conference is being organized by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the international organization responsible for the development of Caribbean tourism.
“We are pleased that Dr. Rifai has accepted our invitation to speak at the CTO State of the Industry conference,” said Hugh Riley, the CTO’s secretary general. “As the head of the global body for tourism, it is fitting that Dr. Rifai would attend the premier event for the Caribbean’s bread and butter industry and to lend his support to the efforts of the region’s tourism institution to build a sustainable industry.”
Overseer of Sustainability Efforts
As head of the UNWTO, Dr. Rifai oversees the organization’s program to promote tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive of development and environmental sustainability, in its 155 member countries.
The CTO State of the Industry conference brings together more than 300 tourism industry leaders from the more than 30 member-countries of the CTO, as well as representatives of the regional and international private sector, academics and members of the press. It will be the first official appearance of the new chairman of the CTO’s Council of Ministers who will have been elected on October 11 and who will serve for a period of two years.
The conference will be held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and has as its themes, “Developing a Winning Strategy” and “Rediscovering Home.”
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