by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:15 AM ET, Thu May 4, 2023
Bermuda is now a member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), which advocates for the growth of sustainable tourism within the region.
The partnership is between the CTO, the Government of Bermuda and the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA); Bermuda was once partnered with CTO prior to the pandemic. It is expected to help unify the Caribbean under a stronger goal: to expand tourism in a sustainable way, for the destinations, the local environments and the people that tourism impacts.
“As our tourism sector continues to recover following the difficult COVID years, it is important that we have access to and work with similar jurisdictions to share ideas that have been successful and can benefit Bermuda,” said Vance Campbell, J.P., Bermuda’s Minister of Tourism. “Our membership in the CTO will be of great value as we continue to build a successful, sustainable tourism industry that helps grow our economy and provide exciting and empowering careers for Bermudians.”
The partnership comes as the destination expects to welcome 500,000 cruise tourists this year, following a sharp decline in all visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the destination hosted 354,000 visitors; this year’s increase is only 35,000 under 2019’s cruise visitor numbers.
“We’re very pleased to welcome Bermuda back to the CTO,” said CTO Chairman Kenneth Bryan, the Minister of Tourism and Ports for the Cayman Islands. “As we continue our focus on repositioning the region in the new tourism environment, I am heartened when destinations like Bermuda express their confidence in the CTO by rejoining at this time. We are truly excited to engage and collaborate with Minister Vance Campbell and his team.”
The most recent destination to join CTO was the U.S. Virgin Islands, which became its 25th member country back in January. These partnerships are a result of the pandemic’s impact on the tourism industry in the region, and their strong surge in popularity from 2022 onwards.
The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, which is not affiliated with CTO, released a report in April that suggested that while the region takes first place in its recovery, the strong surge of visitors can also be a double-edged sword, with issues in staffing and tourism infrastructure as just two that could threaten the region’s tourism growth.
Jamaica, for example, is adding new multimillion-dollar investments into its tourism infrastructure, particularly at Sangster International Airport, to help with the record growth.
Bermuda’s partnership with CTO should help find ways to support the destination’s own growth this year in a sustainable way.
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