Owen Darrell, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, attended the 2024 first-quarter Caribbean Tourism Organisation meeting in Saint Martin.

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation is a development agency that includes 25 members and private sector allies. With headquarters in Barbados, the CTO states its purpose as: “Leading sustainable tourism, one sea, one voice, one Caribbean.”

The meeting was hosted by Valerie Damaseau, the president of the Saint Martin tourism office.

Mr Darrell acknowledged the importance of collaborating with Caribbean partners through initiatives such as the CTO to “collectively advocate for sustainable practices that benefit our economies and diverse cultures.”

He also noted that Bermuda’s National Tourism Plan “is rooted in principles of conservation, community engagement and cultural preservation, and the plan outlines actionable strategies to ensure Bermuda’s leadership in responsible tourism for future generations”.

The National Tourism Plan, implemented in 2019, runs until 2026. One of its goals is to have 65 per cent of visitors to Bermuda come in the non-summer months within two years, and have 8 per cent of leisure air arrivals as Black visitors.