The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) 2025 Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF) and Taste of the Caribbean culinary event opened yesterday at Wyndham Grand Barbados. Featuring hotel innovators and global tourism experts, this year’s CHIEF discussions are guided by the theme “Innovating Caribbean Tourism for a Disrupted World: Adapting with Purpose, Leading with People, Planning for Permanence.” Running concurrently with CHIEF is the highly anticipated Taste of the Caribbean competition, featuring culinary teams from Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados (the reigning five-time National Team winners), Belize, Bonaire, Curaçao, Grenada, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Turks & Caicos Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The three-day event will also include live demonstrations, tasting showcases, and educational sessions led by regional and international experts in culinary arts, sustainability and hospitality management.
Antigua and Barbuda will host CHTA’s 44th edition of Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM), May 12–15, 2026. This marks a continuation of the successful partnership established during the 2025 event and reaffirms CHTA’s confidence in Antigua and Barbuda’s vision, leadership and commitment to the advancement of Caribbean tourism. Registration details, buyer programs and travel information for CTM 2026 will be released in the coming months.
Shaikha Al Nowais of the United Arab Emirates has been confirmed as the new Secretary-General of UN Tourism. She is first woman to lead the United Nations Specialized Agency for tourism in its 50-year history. She will begin her term at the start of 2026, having gained significant experience in the private sector, most notably as Corporate Vice President at Rotana Hotels. Looking ahead to her mandate, she outlined five core priorities: “Responsible tourism, capacity building, technology for good, innovative financing, and smart governance — each designed to make our sector more inclusive, resilient and human.”
I. Chester Cooper, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation of The Bahamas, has stepped into his role as Vice President of UN Tourism’s General Assembly during the organization’s high-level opening session in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this month. Deputy Prime Minister Cooper will work alongside the elected President of the UN Tourism General Assembly Ahmed bin Aqil al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other international tourism leaders to advance sustainable, inclusive and resilient tourism worldwide.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) will host Caribbean Weekend in Miami 2025, a milestone four-day gathering that brings together tourism ministers, directors, industry leaders and stakeholders from across the region December 4–8, 2025, at the Loews Coral Gables Hotel. In addition to strategic business and committee meetings, CTO will host a holiday dinner and fundraiser on Friday, December 5. The festive evening, held in partnership with CTO’s Allied Members, aims to raise US $100,000 for the CTO Foundation in support of disaster relief and tourism restoration in Jamaica and Haiti, assisting tourism workers whose livelihoods were impacted by Hurricane Melissa. Saturday features the signature “Reimagining Caribbean Tourism Together” summit, a high-level gathering aboard Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas. The weekend culminates with the annual Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEx) Leadership Awards & Fundraiser on Sunday, December 7. A full program-at-a-glance is available at https://bit.ly/caribbeanweekend.
