While every country has a tourist board, a tourism minister, a marketing strategy and a wider private sector dependent on the industry's fortunes, tourism is still not seen as a policy issue that requires much better co-ordination at a national level if the Caribbean is to remain competitive with other destinations. Nor is it viewed at a regional level as a matter of central importance when it comes to exchanges with external partners on a wide array of policy issues from climate change to terrorism, and taxation. If tourism is to receive the support it deserves as the Caribbean's most vital export, the contribution of the industry to regional development has to be better understood by public officials, the industry itself and the communities where it takes place. Put another way the state of Caribbean tourism now warrants being an agenda item at every regional and external event.
Davi Jessop is the director of the Caribbean Council david.jessop@caribbean-council.org