The State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) opened in Georgetown this morning with President Irfaan Ali, urging regional tourism leaders not  to allow the Caribbean to become complacent with its tourism products.

Addressing the opening of the conference, the President said the region runs the risk of having visitors leave the shores of the Caribbean and seek alternative destinations for a product that is available in the region.

“Our natural product and our natural beauty are important assets but if we are complacent about the way we retool, reorganize, reorient, revalue and reposition this asset, we are not going to optimize its value in the future. An important part of positioning this asset is resilience from the time a project is conceptualized in our region today, we need to think about disaster preparedness, business continuity, we saw during covid what took place in the industry. Whilst many fear that the industry would take decades to recover, Tourism showed remarkable strength,” the President noted.

The President said the Caribbean must also invest heavily in infrastructure to enhance the experience of travelers.

Using Guyana as an example, he explained that the country is embracing the change in infrastructure development and is investing in a new airport terminal to further enhance the experience of tourists and other visitors.

“So, we have to work out what is the infrastructure to enhance Supply chain to connect us and bring us the markets closer together in a more integrated way. We have to look at workforce shortage, availability and quality, A.I, digital resilience, cyber security,’ the President noted.

He said the region must work together to support the tourism product of each member state, urging that there be more regional trade.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Minister of Tourism, Susan Rodrigues, said the country stands to benefit significantly from hosting the regional tourism conference.

“Hosting SOTIC is particularly significant for Guyana because it gives us an opportunity to engage directly in the regional conversation on the future Tourism. SOTIC is one of CTO’s most important for examining where our industry is today and more importantly where it must go tomorrow. So SOTIC means recognition for Guyana, it means confidence, it means partnership, and it means Guyana is now participating in the regional conversation with experience, investments ideas and lessons to contribute,” the Minister said. 

The conference, which runs until Friday is being hosted under the theme: “Tourism Future: Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive”.

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