CTO Secretary General to hold talks with Cuban Tourism Minister

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: The secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Jean Holder is to hold talks with the Cuban tourism minister, Ibrahim Ferradez-Garcia later this week.

The meeting, which will be held in Havana on Friday, February 20, will focus on possible areas of cooperation between Cuba and CTO, the leading authority on Caribbean tourism, Mr. Holder said.

The secretary added that Cuba was one of the original members of the organization and had returned to membership in 1991 after a period of absence. Cuba, he said, is an active participant in CTO programmes in Europe and Canada but cannot currently participate in CTO programmes based in the United States, due to the existing embargo imposed by the US government.

"Cuba is the cradle of Caribbean tourism with a long history of tourism development and its achievements in tourism development in the past decade are phenomenal, given the challenges it faces," Mr. Holder said.

The sixth annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development will take place from April 27 to 30 in Havana, Cuba. It will focus on the preservation of the marine and coastal areas of the Caribbean region.

"These are matters of a scientific, rather than a political nature, and are of considerable concern to all countries which are touched by the waters of the Caribbean Sea. We are expecting therefore, the widest possible cooperation from all parties concerned," he said of the conference.

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