V.I. Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty, in her capacity as chair of the Caribbean Tourism Association, just completed a week of visits with top tourism officials in Montserrat, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, according to the Department of Tourism.

Along with gaining a greater appreciation for member-country needs and challenges, Nicholson-Doty, CTO Secretary General Hugh Riley and CTO Director of Membership Services Fay Gill discussed CTO programs like its Total Visitor Satisfaction program and Tourism Satellite Accounts, regional marketing initiatives, and the importance of cruising and aviation to the Caribbean.

In Montserrat, the CTO team met with Premier Reuben Meade, who is also minister of Finance, Tourism and Economic Development; in St. Lucia, they met with Lorne Theophilus, minister of Tourism, Heritage and the Creative Industries. In Grenada, they met with Civil Aviation, Culture and Tourism Minister Alexandra Otway-Noel, and in neighboring St. Vincent and the Grenadines, they met with Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture Cecil Mckie.

"The exchanges with my cabinet colleagues in the Eastern Caribbean have underscored one important thing – that we in the Caribbean need each other, and the only way to move tourism in the region to another level is by closely collaborating on key issues," said Nicholson-Doty.

These meetings form part of a series of member-country visits by CTO leadership to exchange information on the issues involving Caribbean tourism on an individual country and territory basis and to identify solutions.

Since this mission began in 2012, the CTO leadership has met senior tourism policymakers and officials in both the public and private sectors in the Dutch-, English-, French- and Spanish-speaking member-countries of the CTO, according to the Department of Tourism.