Press Releases

Cancun, Mexico (November 14th 2013) - The Executive Committees at the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) and International Air Transport Association (IATA), in collaboration with the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), today hosted the Caribbean Region and Latin America Meeting of Tourism and Transport Executives. This meeting was convened to gather the regional Tourism and Transport Authorities with the CEO's and Senior Executives of Airlines operating within the Greater Caribbean Region.

This meeting intended to facilitate and enhance cooperation and dialogue among the regional tourism and transport sectors, as well as facilitate strategic alliances among key regional and international stakeholders. Participating in this historic dialogue were over 50 Aviation industry and Tourism related leaders and High-level Authorities from the region; these included Ministers of Tourism and Transport, Tourism Directors and Commissioners, Civil Aviation Authorities, Airline CEOs and top-level Executives, Airline Associations, and interested stakeholders.

The meeting discussed important matters relating to connectivity and intra-regional travel and the opportunities and challenges facing the Caribbean region, in this regard. This meeting also set the framework for the Agenda and key topics to be considered, for a full Caribbean Aviation Day Meeting planned for 2014.

Immediately following the one day meeting, the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum, will take place from November 14th-15th at the same venue, the Iberostar Hotel Cancun. The Airline Leaders Forum held annually, is the largest gathering of its kind for Latin American and the Caribbean, and receives participation from over 500 aviation-related organizations and authorities for two days of discussion on industry related topics.

The activities in Cancun will conclude with the ALTA-IATA-World Economic Forum Breakfast on November 15th, which is being organised exclusively for Government representatives to meet with Airline representatives, for direct exchanges and networking.

The ACS is being represented at the meeting by ACS Director of Sustainable Tourism, Mr. Julio Orozco who, on behalf of ACS Secretary General, expressed the Association’s commitment to collaborating with its regional partners to address the critical issues of air transport affecting the region. Mr. Orozco further indicated that the ACS viewed this meeting as an important step in enhancing collaboration and dialogue between the tourism and transport sectors for purposes of improving connectivity within and to the region by air and sea, which are key pillars to achieve objectives related to Regional Integration, Tourism Development and Trade, which are aligned to the mission and goals of the Association.