Finance and public policy expert, Prof Avinash Persaud, is set to make a presentation on “The Caribbean’s Reality Check,” at the conference.
Persaud will focus on how the Caribbean region compares with the competition and where the responsibilities lie and ask the tough question – whether the Caribbean is pricing itself out of the tourism market through high travel, labor and energy costs?
“Caribbean tourism is at risk of going the way of the sugar industry. We let our competition invest more in service quality, environmental management and safety,” Prof. Persaud, Chairman of Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences in Barbados, will tell delegates who are expected to include Caribbean ministers, commissioners and directors of tourism, the head of the World Travel and Tourism Council, David Scowsill and the British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Paul Brummel.
The State of the Industry Conference has been organized in collaboration with the St. Martin Tourist Office to tackle a number of critical issues, including overcoming the hurdles to intra-regional travel, how to use limited resources to the greatest advantage, how to influence the affluent travelers and being truly competitive.
