We all understand the importance of tourism to our lives and livelihoods, but we may be less familiar with the leaders and executives who are charged not only with providing a vision and roadmap for success, but also bearing much of the responsibility for ensuring that this sector thrives and flourishes in a sustainable manner.
MPE’s “Notable in Travel & Tourism” will spotlight these individuals in a series of features, allowing you to get to know these noteworthy professionals.
First up, we are pleased to introduce you to Josephine Connolly, Minister of Tourism for the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Minister Connolly was appointed in February 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and oversaw Turks and Caicos’ phenomenal tourism performance during a most challenging period. She attributes that success to effective collaboration with the Ministry’s tourism partners and other industry stakeholders.
The veteran government official, who previous served as Minister of Education, started her career in the private sector in Providenciales in 1991 and has amassed experience in the automobile and media industries.
In July 2012, she was elected as one of the five all-island members of the House of Assembly and subsequently was elected as Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly. In 2016, she was again elected as an all-island member, and in 2021 she was elected for a third term as an all-island member.
Under her leadership, the Ministry is overseeing the establishment of a destination management organization to transition from the existing tourist board.
“That is something that we are working on at the moment … we realize that we want everybody to be included in the destination management organization, including the taxi drivers, the vendors, even the lawyers. Whatever we do in Turks and Caicos, it has to do with tourism,” she commented, explaining that since more than 70 percent of the territory’s GDP is derived from the tourism sector, sustainability is key to the future.
“We are beautiful by nature and have warm people. We have everything that you would ever want to see and do in the Turks and Caicos Islands. We not only have sand and sea, we will give you the greatest experience that you would ever dream of,” she assured.
An active community volunteer, Minister Connolly holds a BSc. in Management and Politics and an MSc. in Human Resource Management from the University of Central Lancashire.
