BVI to serve as Vice President of CTO Council of Ministers

~~Adz:Right~~ Roadtown, Tortola - The Virgin Islands (UK) will serve as one of the six Vice-Presidents of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s (CTO) Council of Ministers with a specific mandate to represent the interests of British overseas territories like the BVI.

The BVI was elected to the post at the recent annual general meeting of the CTO held in Trinidad and Tobago.

In an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations, Acting Director of the BVI Tourist Board, Ms. Hadassah Ward said “overseas territories are a small group and we have small populations but we have larger amounts of visitors when compared to other destinations.” 

According to Ms. Ward, this unique characteristic often results in the needs of overseas territories being overlooked although their contribution to the CTO is quite high.

She added “the job of the BVI is to ensure that whatever decisions are made by the Board of Directors, the needs and interests of the Caribbean overseas territories are met and that we are not paying beyond our benefits.”

Ms. Ward describes the BVI’s election as a vote of confidence. “They see us as having a strong capacity to lead and also to attend meetings and to put in the time and the effort, and having the interest to follow up and make sure that what we need, we would get out of it,” she said.

She further stated that “our organisation has been represented on the CTO from its inception and we have always been active participants in all their events worldwide and it’s a vote of confidence that we would continue to do so and do so well.”

Ms. Ward explained that in its capacity as one of the vice-presidents, the BVI will “have to ensure that the other overseas territories are aware of what is going on and ensure that we get everybody’s support for whatever decisions are taken and whatever agreements are made to take forward to the Board of Directors.”

The Barbados-based CTO was established in 1989 with a mission to help develop partnerships that will increase the attractiveness of the Caribbean as a tourist destination resulting in sustainable economic and social benefits for its 32-member countries.

Tourism is one of the primary economic pillars of the Virgin Islands (UK) and Government stands committed to promoting it and ensuring its survival. It is the vision of this administration that the tourism sector will maintain its leadership position as a diverse, upscale niche market destination while at the same time maintaining environmental sustainability, social and cultural balance.