Local and regional officials are beaming with pride and a sense of accomplishment following Antigua and Barbuda’s successful hosting of the 43th edition of Caribbean Tourism Marketplace, from May 19 to 22 at the AUA Conference Centre.
Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez said the reports that he has received all point to a very successful and productive engagement from key participants of the events, the buyers and sellers of Caribbean vacations.
“The vendors are all very happy; the buyers and everyone who have participated have said that it was an exceptional conference and that is something over which we are very proud,” he reported.
Minister Fernandez also thanked the American University of Antigua for being ‘a very good partner’ with the hosting of the event and he also extended much appreciation to the dozens of volunteers who assisted with making the event the success that it turned out to be.
The tourism minister also expressed confidence that having successfully hosted CHTA Tourism Marketplace, that the country is making a bold move in going after the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) segment of the tourism market.
“If you do it once, people may feel that it may have been luck or a fluke, but having this event where you have over eight hundred delegates you prove that it was not a fluke, that we are in a position to really make it work. It also puts us on the map for other MICE event,” he declared.
Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority’s Chief Executive Officer, Colin C. James was gushing with pride when he described CHTA Tourism Marketplace.
“There were more than 9-thousand meetings that took place during the several 2025 as ‘phenomenal’. days of Marketplace. Additionally, I was very pleased that we had over 43 media representatives who covered the event. I also received much commendation about ArriveAntigua.com which the visitors described as very easy to use,” he noted.
James indicated that the ABTA expects to see a jump in tourism arrivals following the conference as studies show that each territory that has hosted the event see increases in arrivals because of the wide exposure which the country receives because of Marketplace.
CHTA President, Sanovnik Destang, said Antigua and Barbuda should be ‘proud of itself’ for pulling off a successful Tourism Marketplace as one of the smallest destinations to ever do so.
He noted that everything went well from the venue and its layout, to the quality of the meetings all of which went ‘very well’.
