Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/44484
WORLD'S BEST, SAYS TOURISM CHIEF First CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase A Huge Success The head of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) declared his organization supports the arts because Caribbean artistes are among the best in theworld.HughRiley, theCTO's Secretary General, applauded the work of CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution, producers of the recent New York Film Showcase, for profiling the talent of the Caribbean and preserving the region's story-telling culture. Addressing the opening of the CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase in Brooklyn, Riley explained his organization supports the cultural industries because Caribbean's artistes, writers and filmmakers are among themost skilled story tellers in the world. "AtCTOwe focus a great deal of our time,energy and atten- tion on marketing the Caribbean as the world's premier warm weather tourism destination ... we do it for the social and eco- nomic benefit of the people of the Caribbean - (however) to truly benefit our citizens we need to understand their stories and to tell them with power, persuasion and passion," asserted Riley. The tourism chief contended that in today's era of social media and cutting edge telecommunications "if you reallywant to move from conversation to persuasion, if you truly want to move both the mind and the heart, no medium can match the immersive experiencewe getwhenwe sit in the dark (with) our CHTA, CTOTO RELAUNCH REGIONAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN UNDER AUSPICES OF CARIBBEANTOURISM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) are to relaunch the marketing and business development unit, the Caribbean TourismDevelopment Company (CTDC), a jointly owned and operated private, for profit entity created in 2007. The revitalized CTDC will market the Caribbean brand through licensing, merchandizing, advertising, and the sale of vacations via its website www.caribbeantravel.com. The web- site,whichwill be redesigned,will include among other features, an integrated booking platform that specifically caters to the Caribbean's smaller hotels. One of the "new"CTDC's emphases in the initial stageswill be on reviving intra-Caribbean vacation travel. Funding for the CTDC will come from both the public and private sectors, with the joint owners each committing seed 26 CARIBBEANARTISTS AMONGTHE mind and body relaxed and (we are) focused on a film." At the Spike Lee Screening Room at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus, patrons viewed a number of Caribbean-produced trailers and shorts, along with feature films "Calypso Dreams," arguably the best film ever made about calypso, and the rivet- ing documentary "Fire in Babylon," the inspiring story of how a West Indies cricket side triumphed over its colonial masters. Joking that not all Caribbean films invo- lved pirates, Riley described the well- attended showcase, a fitting closing act for Caribbean Week in New York. It was, he continued, "a chance to give expression to our values as Carib- bean people and tell the stories that we too often forget." Pictured above, Hugh Riley addresses patrons at the CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase in Brooklyn. HUGH RILEY funding to be supplemented by CTOmember countries. The new CTDC board of directors will comprise six mem- bers each fromtheCTOand theCHTA,with the leaders of the two organizations – the CTO chairman Richard "Ricky" Skerritt and the CHTA president Josef Forstmayr – as co- chairs. TheCaribbeanTourismDevelopmentCompany (CTDC) is a marketing and business development unit, owned equally by theCaribbeanHotel andTourismAssociation (CHTA) and the CaribbeanTourismOrganization (CTO). Itsmission is to own, promote, protect, advance and enhance the Caribbean brand. The CTDC combines the resources of the Caribbean region's destinations, accommodations and service providers to create a viable,cohesive,business unit that is able to identify commercial opportunities and allow the members of CHTA and CTO to benefit collectively from those opportunities in ways that indi- vidually they could not. In all its endeavors the company will engage only in activities that honor the Caribbean brand and benefit themembers ofCHTAand CTO. Black Meetings & Tourism September/October 2011: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com