USVI Strengthens Partnerships at Caribbean Travel Marketplace

The strong interest in the U.S. Virgin Islands was encouraging for the territory's team at last week’s 30th annual Caribbean Travel Marketplace, hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) in The Bahamas.

"People are very excited about the U.S. Virgin Islands," said Deputy Commissioner of Tourism Chantal Figueroa, who listed new convenient air service, the ease of travel, the no-passport requirement and the three distinct island offerings as major drawing points among conference buyers.

 "Although we are one destination, buyers are pleased they can offer their clients different things to do because of how varied our islands are."

The new air service to the territory on both JetBlue Airways and Air Canada contributed to the keen responses at the biggest gathering of the Caribbean travel and tourism industry and companies which serve them abroad.

Figueroa described her team's more than 40 appointments with travel and media partners over two days as "productive". The meetings, she added, provided the opportunity to cement partnerships with traditional and new tour operators and communicate the Department of Tourism's strategy for 2012.



While the Department of Tourism team is in regular communication with its partners throughout the year, she pointed out, "at Marketplace we are able to meet face to face with tour operators to strengthen our relationships, communicate our strategy, discuss booking trends and advance our marketing charge."



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