Minister of Tourism – Richard “Ricky” Skerritt
Photo By Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
October 10, 2010 (CUOPM)
St. Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Sen. the Hon. Richard “Ricky” Skerritt has been elected to the chairmanship of the prestigious Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).
Mr. Skerritt succeeds Antigua and Barbuda’s Hon. John Maginley. Mr. Skerritt will serve for two years as head of CTO, the Caribbean’s official tourism development agency.
“These are challenging times for tourism around the world, but no sector is more critical to our region’s economic future,” Sen. Skerritt said.
“I believe that with the right leadership strategy I am confident that we can achieve our goal of establishing the Caribbean as the world’s premier warm-weather travel destination, with genuinely caring people and world class products,” the two-term cabinet minister said.
The vote took place on the eve of the CTO’s first-ever Leadership Strategy Conference, which brings together delegates from more than 30 countries to hear from global tourism leaders and discuss some of the key issues facing this critical sector. Sessions at the conference include security, taxes, new market development, aviation, destination branding and the growing use of social media to build a tourism brand.