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Industry Leaders Salute Outgoing Caribbean Tourism Chief
WASHINGTON,
DC (July 2, 2008) - The appointment of a new tourism
minister in the Bahamas is being hailed as a significant
move for the wider Caribbean region.
The highly-regarded head of the Caribbean Tourism
Organization (CTO), Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, joins the
Bahamian Senate next week as Minister of Tourism and
Aviation.
"The elevation of Vanderpool-Wallace signals a determination
to get the best and the brightest into the region's most
important industry," said Lelei LeLaulu, a tourism and
development specialist in Washington DC. "The region is
going into one of the most critical phases of its
development and the elevation of Vanderpool-Wallace signals
a willingness of the political leadership to start
mobilizing political will to deal with the crisis looming
over the region," he added,
"The appointment of one brilliant man will not save the
region, but when he's placed next to other dynamic leaders
like Allen Chastanet of St. Lucia, Edmund Bartlett of
Jamaica and Harold Lovell of Antigua and Barbuda, then you
have a spearhead of ministers who can really make a
difference," he added.
"It's time to get the region off its laurels before it's too
late - and action has to come from the top," said LeLaulu,
president of Counterpart International and co-founder of the
World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable Development.
"The Caribbean tourism industry is better equipped to deal
with the challenges of reduced seat capacity, escalating air
fares and high fuel prices following Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace's
three years of service as CTO Secretary General," said
LeLaulu, a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance
set up by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
"Not only do the leaders have to adopt urgent policies to
deal with the oil price crisis, which is more devastating
than some hurricanes, but they also have to communicate
these policies effectively to all stakeholders and
fortunately for the region Vanderpool-Wallace is a master
communicator," added LeLaulu, whose organization produces
the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx)
which gathers cabinet ministers with the media and other
movers and shakers twice a year.
Lauding the tourism leader for bringing energy, insight and
a stimulating intellect to the Barbados-based regional
organisation, Senator Allen Chastanet, CTO's chairman as
well as St. Lucia's Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation,
lamented Vanderpool-Wallace's departure, but was thankful
that he will continue to make a contribution to the region
as Bahamas' Minister of Tourism and Aviation. "Vincent was a
key architect in the restructuring and streamlining of the
CTO and the launch of the Caribbean Tourism Development
Company which now brands the region with a single voice," he
said.
CTO now requires Ministers of Tourism to meet separately and
apart from directors, thereby distinguishing the crafting of
regional policy from its implementation. Once policies have
been set, directors can then use their creative imagination
and skills to develop plans and programmes that help to
aggressively position the Caribbean's brand, without too
much interference from politicians.
"We congratulate Vincent on his term at the CTO and wish him
every success as he returns to his native Bahamas to
continue the fine work that he started when he was
Director-General of Tourism," said Cybelle Brown, Vice
President of Sales and Business Development with BET Digital
Networks which partners with numerous Caribbean destinations
to position the region to its growing audience of Caribbean
vacationers. "We are thankful that he will remain in the
region to provide a renewed level of inspiration to tourism
players in both the public and private sector," she said.
Caroline Racine, Director of Caribbean Franchise Development
with Choice Hotels International, said the former Secretary
General was able to put the issues of small hotels and their
importance to economic development firmly on the region's
agenda, and she looked forward to working with CTO's new
leadership to follow through some exciting plans for the
small hotel community that have been promoted under
Vanderpool-Wallace's watch. "Vincent is a treasure to the
Caribbean and we are sure as he heads back home, he will
continue to provide leadership on regional issues from
Nassau," she commented.
Vanderpool-Wallace, who took over as CTO's Secretary General
from the long-serving Barbadian Dr. Jean Holder, steps down
on Monday to assume his new position in the Bahamian Senate
following a cabinet reshuffle. Current tourism minister Neko
Grant, who has held the portfolio of Minister of Tourism and
Aviation for a little over a year, assumes the portfolio
responsibility for the Ministry of Public Works and
Transport.
Vanderpool-Wallace had served as Director General of Tourism
in the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism for 12 years and has had
a long and distinguished career in tourism in both the
public and private sector of The Bahamas and in the region.
He previously served as Chairman of the Management Committee
of the Bahamas Tourism Training Center, Director of both the
Central Bank of The Bahamas and the Bank of The Bahamas, and
Chairman of the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas.
WASHINGTON,
DC (July 2, 2008) - The appointment of a new tourism
minister in the Bahamas is being hailed as a significant
move for the wider Caribbean region.