Director of Sustainable Tourism Mr. Julio Orozco represented the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) at the 22nd Inter-American Congress of Ministers and High level Authorities of Tourism. The event hosted by the Organization of American States was held under the theme “Tourism Competitiveness: An Essential Element of Sustainability” in Bridgetown, Barbados for the period September 3rd-4th.

The meeting facilitated the discussion of important issues such as; measuring competitiveness: price versus non-price factors in Tourism, importance of tourism infrastructure, tourism and inter-sectoral linkages and sustainable destination management.

The Inter-American Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism was established in 1939 and is the principal hemispheric forum for dialogue and policy development in the tourism sector. Designed to promote the sustainable development of tourism in the Americas, through the organization of a series of meetings, the Congress serves to address relevant technical hemispheric issues and to develop inter-American cooperation in tourism.

Held annually for the past four years, the Congress is an important platform for the exchange of experiences and best practices, and provides a mechanism to support technical studies, strengthen communication between government agencies and the private sector, consider technical cooperation proposals, and support Countries in their efforts to develop the tourism sector.