Honorable Heredia travels to Washington

Belize Tourism Board attends Annual Caribbean Tourism Summit in Washington

Press Release – Belize City – Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 – The Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Honorable Manuel Heredia Jr., Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mike Singh and the Director of Tourism, Mrs. Tracy Panton traveled to Washington to attend the 1st Annual Caribbean Tourism Summit at the International Trade Center from June 21st – June 25th, 2008.
The Summit, organized by the Caribbean Tourism Development Company, the marketing and business development unit owned equally by the Caribbean Hotel Association and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, was designed to bring together key industry leaders from all sectors and to stimulate a heightened interest in the Caribbean, with the primary goal of increasing the flow of foreign direct tourism capital investment into the region. Keynote speaker at the Summit was Alan Greenspan who served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for over 18 years. Mr. Greenspan discussed the current status of the US economy and its potential impacts on the regional economy.
Other topics discussed included Outbound Travel – Outlook for Caribbean Tourism; Creating Opportunity Through Sustainability, Creating the Future through Educational Partnerships; Investment Infrastructure Needs, Carbon Trading – Creating New Business Opportunities and Small Business Investments in the Tourism Sector. Closed Summit Sessions were also held each day with the various US Department Secretaries, as well as with potential donor agencies.

“Attendance at the Annual Caribbean Tourism Summit provided an excellent forum for international tourism leaders to exchange ideas and interact with the influential Policy Makers, Financial Leaders, Marketing Professionals and Tourism Officials from more than 30 Caribbean countries,” commented Tourism Minister, Honorable Manuel Heredia, Jr. “We are also happy to network with other tourism leaders to see how we can further grow this important economic sector.
While in Washington, the Minister of Tourism, Honorable Manuel Heredia, CEO Singh and the Director of Tourism, visited with the Inter-American Development Bank, Cruise Line International Association and Conservation International. The Belize delegation also made a courtesy call on the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, H.E. Jose Miguel Insulza. The Belize delegation had the full support of His Excellency Nestor Mendez, Chief of Belize Mission in Washington and his team.
For more information on the developments and events in Belize’s Tourism Industry, please contact the Marketing Department at the Belize Tourism Board at (501)-227-2420, via email: btbb@btl.net or visit our website http://www.belizetourism.org/.