T I U R 1 m / T R n V i Love, luxury earn Caribbean top World Travel Awards [he allure of 5 v \ some 165,000 travel agen- Most Romantic Resort - the Caribbean cies and professionals from Sandals Grande Antigua again received 140 countries, had to sift Resort and Spa bal approval as I through 3,600 nominations. Leading Honeymoon w~wcaibenodyco many of the region's destinations were selected for top prizes at the World Travel Awards (WTA) held last month in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The travel industry's so-called .. * equivalent of the "Oscars" revealed Caribbean that the Caribbean remains among the most world's most sought after vacation spots by visitors seeking recreation, relaxation and even romance. destinations were voted among the most romantic. This year some 791 cate- gories in the tourism industry were highlighted. Voting began in May and ended last month. Voters, represented by WINNERS The host country was not left out from the win- ners' group, earning the "World's Leading Beach" and "World's Leading Island Destination" at the 13th annual awards. Also topping the \\orid ' winners group were from the Caribbean were: Leading villas Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Jamaica Leading Sports Resort - Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic Destination St. Lucia * Leading Family All- Inclusive Beaches Resorts * Leading Ecotourism Destination Tobago Main Ridge Rain Forest * Leading Cruise Line - Royal Caribbean * Leading Beach - Providenciales, Turks and Caicos * Leading All-Inclusive Company Sandals Resorts International Guyana launches new thrust for Cricket World Cup GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC As Guyana prepares to join the rest of the region in hosting Cricket World Cup 2007, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has announced plans to repackage the country's main tourism products. Brian James, chairman of the GTA, said the repackaging effort will result in a greater focus on eco-tourism, since the country cannot seek to repli- cate the sun and fun type tourism packages which Caribbean islands make the center piece of their marketing programs. "There is a lot more geog- raphy, more land and the prod- ucts are not the typical sun, sand and sea," James said. "We are more into a specific niche market where the tourism product appeal who are into eco tourism, adven- ture, nature bird watching, sports fishing. "We have a number of cul- ture items in our tourism product, which you will not find in other parts of the Caribbean. This is due to the number of races we have in Guyana. "There are African and Indian heritage festivals. We have Amerindian Heritage Month, there are different types of cultural ethnic activities Guyana is hoping that we are pro- interest visitors d moting. So we are not going after the mass market to have g eco-tourism atractions liKe Dira watching will during Cricket World Cup 2007. jumbo jets with 400 to 500 peo- ple coming out together, which our ecology will not be able to sustain," he added. He said while the individ- ual tourism products have to be developed, promoted, directed and sustained by the private sector, the GTA would be working along with the pri- vate sector to ensure that the Guyana product was devel- oped in a sustainable way. James said even though tourism is not a major revenue generating product, it contributes to Guyana's Gross Domestic Product. "It has gone from a literal- ly an unknown commodity to approximately 12 to 15 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, and what differentiates it from the typi- cal West Indian tourism is that it is not an island," he added. 0 Tourism important in AIDS fight activist Dr. Carol Jacobs, chairman of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, says the tourism sector is of critical importance in the fight against HIV/AIDS. "In a region which boasts of 40 million tourists passing through the region annually, the tourism sector must see itself as having a critical role in sensitizing those who work in the industry, as well as those who travel for pleas- ure or for work," said Dr. Jacobs, an eminent Caribbean family physician, who also chairs the Barbados National HIV/AIDS Commission. Her comments came last month as St. Lucia prepared to host a large delegation of Caribbean media, tourism and development officials for the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx), a regional forum known for dealing with the controversial connec- tions between tourism and HIV/AIDS. "The AIDS program relies heavily on our media partners to help us achieve these ends," said Dr. Jacobs. The fifth anniversary of CMEx, to be held at Coco Resorts and a host of other prop- erties on the island, was sched- uled to examine the enhancement of sustainable tourism develop- ment through the lens of "Chic Communications GC ',nph dis- cussing culinary, cultural, health, sports, and village tourism link- ages over four days in Castries. 0 1 glol JAZZ JAMAICAN-STYLE IN JANUARY Music will be the drawing card for visitors planning to travel to Jamaica early next year. Last month the organizers of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival announced their plans for 2007, the 10th year of the event, at a launch held in New York. They listed several well known artistes confirmed to perform at the festival, set to run from Jan. 25-27, including Arturo Tappin, Christopher Cross, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Rogers, Michael Bolton, Monty Alexander, Pieces of a Dream, plus reggae stars Freddie McGregor, Luciano, Shaggy and Wayne Wonder. Among those who attended the launch were, from left, David Shields, Jamaica's deputy tourism director; and festival officials Walter Elmore, Marcia McDonnough, George deMercado and Gregg Truman. October 2006 CARIBBEAN TODAY TOURISM BRIEFS * American Eagle adds Caribbean destinations American Eagle has increased its services to five Caribbean destina- tions. The airline will offer additional flights from its San Juan hub to Antigua, Dominica, Anguilla, St. Thomas and St. Croix, using the ATR72 turbo-prop aircraft with capacity for 64 passengers. * Faith tourism for The Bahamas The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is partnering with former Fox News correspondent and CNN news anchor Andria Hall to promote faith tourism in those Caribbean islands Nov. 30 through Dec. 3. * Club Med to open in December Club Med La Caravelle is scheduled to open in Guadeloupe on Dec. 16 following the completion of renova- tions, which reportedly cost $29 mil- lion. * Travelocity exec to address CTC A senior executive of one of the leading online providers of travel services will give delegates to the 29th Annual Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-29) an insight into how to use the Internet to expand their business. Tracey Weber, the chief operat- ing officer in North America for Travelocity, will set the tone for the CTC-29 scheduled for Oct. 22-25 in The Bahamas. * New tourist board for Montserrat Tourism entrepreneur John Ponteen has been chosen to chair a new board of directors for the Montserrat Tourist Board (MTB). Compiled from CMC and other sources. 0