CARIBBEAN
WEEK in New York wrapped up June 16 with a push by tourism
officials to postpone to June 2009 the first phase of the Western
Hemisphere Travel Initiative, currently set to take effect Jan. 1,
2007. Phase 1 would require all citizens to possess a valid
passport when entering the country from the Caribbean, Bermuda,
Mexico, Latin and South America and Canada by air or sea. A
postponement would help bolster awareness of the new requirement
and give travelers more time to get passports, said Vincent
Vanderpool-Wallace, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism
Association.
MEANWHILE, government and tourism officials
are alarmed that the number of applications for new U.S. passports
has been nowhere near the numbers we wanted, Vanderpool-Wallace
said. I will not be comfortable until at least 90% of the U.S.
market has passports. In other news, CTOs and the Caribbean Hotel
Associations merged Web site will be launched at CTOs Caribbean
Tourism Conference Oct. 22 to 26 on Grand Bahama Island. The site
will offer a consumer engine, to be followed by an agent booking
engine, linked to Caribbean specialized travel agents currently in
CTOs database.
SO LONG,
SOCA: Trinidad and Tobagos charismatic and gutsy Soca
Warriors went down 0-2 to Paraguays team June 20 in Kaiserslautern,
Germany, thus eliminating any hope of advancing to the second round
of the 2006 World Cup. In their first two games, the Warriors held
Sweden to a draw and took a 0-2 loss to England. No matter. The
smallest country to qualify for World Cup play since the sporting
event began in 1930 captured the hearts and souls of fans the world
over; and the 6,000-plus ardent followers -- plus a few hundred of
their steel drums -- from Trinidad and Tobago who trekked to
Germany, ensured the teams place in history. For a recap of the
teams World Cup debut, visit www.socawarriorstt.com.
ROLODEX:
" Patrick Delatour
has been named minister of tourism by Haitis newly elected
president Rene Preval. Delatour is an architect who contributed to
Haitis Master Plan for Tourism several years ago under
then-minister of tourism Maryse Penette.
" On Montserrat,
Lowell Lewis, chief minister, will oversee the Montserrat Tourist
Boards marketing and product development initiatives in his role as
tourism minister. He has held numerous posts in the Montserrat
government, including deputy minister.
SPECIAL
NOTE: Beginning in July, the Caribbean E-letter will be
published every other Tuesday, beginning with the July 4
edition.
Caribbean
Editor:
Gay Nagle
Myers
Phone: (201) 902-1591
[email protected]
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