Caribbean Community Tourism Network launched by CTO

Caribbean: Caribbean Community Tourism Network (CCTN) has been launched by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) so as to provide a platform to promote the continued development of CBT in the Caribbean region.

CCTN would promote the exchange of best methods among the member nations of CTO and the partners interested in tourism development and help identify capacity-building needs and challenges, and opportunities for CBT development.

The sustainable tourism specialist of CTO - Amanda Charles, cited, "Tourism which is community-based offers an opportunity to bridge the social and economic gap of local communities, allows community members a path to sustainable livelihoods, and is a channel for the active participation & empowerment of local people in the tourism."

The Tourism Specialist further noted that this network would also provide an avenue for CTO members to exchange knowledge, resources, and best methods to boost the community tourism experiences and its economic impact.

CCTN network would do the promotion & support of regional development strategies in CBT by accommodating input into and recommending activities and actions to improve the clarity and value of CBT as a regional tourism product.

CCTN network has identified CBT as a regional tourism development strategy and is attempting to utilize its role in strengthening local livelihoods, spurring entrepreneurship and community social and economic development. This all would be done while creating authentic experiences & unique product offerings for the visitors.

Despite this, a toolkit for product development has been produced in partnership with the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility - CCPF.

This toolkit includes a how-to guide so as to help cities and entrepreneurs develop effective CBT experiences and enterprises, with information on product development, pricing, marketing and creating business plans.

This toolkit also consists of guidelines & and templates to help experience design and product enhancement and a tool to measure the capacity of communities' and CBT states of readiness.