“As encouraged as we are by the results and how far we have come, we need to accept the reality that must be grasped going forward.
He lauded the CTO for making significant strides and responding to the call to be better and stronger. It is against this backdrop that he revealed that the organisation is in its process of re-engineering, having already developed a Business Development Unit; launched the Tourism Information Management System and is currently testing a tourism satellite accounts facilitation tool in a couple pilot countries.
“Also producing tourism statistics, conscious of the fact that once we are aware of what is getting measured we can make sure it gets done. So the CTO is working well and is conscious of the need for us to properly define the future,” he said.
The chairman also commended the CTO in the US for being able to increase sponsorship for non-governmental sponsorship by over 100 per cent. “It is good to see that the same USA office has been leading the charge to get donations to the CTO scholarship foundation. That too has increased significantly. It is also good to see that the CTO has been making progress in terms of its interface with other regional organisations,” he commended.
Sealy also touched on the health considerations faced by the region in recent times and the invaluable work of the Caribbean Public Health Agency as it relates to the fight against dengue fever, Chikungunya and Zika. “Just when we thought we had tamed the Zika beast there is an outbreak in South Florida and is creeping down the Bahamian archipelago and may once again be an issue for the region. We have to be head above that,” he cautioned. (JH)