MIAMI—Travel Agent was on site last week for the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Conference (CHTC), where Allen Chastanet, newly elected Chairman of the Carib-bean Tourism Organization (CTO), serving as keynote speaker at the opening ceremony, made it clear that there was more to worry about with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) than passport restrictions.
If the Caribbean doesn't start getting serious about
regional marketing, it will be in major trouble when most Caribbean travelers
from the
"Once everyone has their passports in the next three to
four years, they will be able to go anywhere," he said, referring to the
WHTI, the passport restrictions enforced by the
Chastanet stressed the importance of working as one, noting
how backwards he thought it was that the
"We still have time to win this race," he said.
"We need to stop measuring success based on what our competition is doing,
but rather based on our potential. I don't believe there is a region in the
world that has what people want more than the