Antigua/Barbuda’s Tourism Minister Harold Lovell who chaired the two day meeting, announced that agreement had been reached on the setting up of a cruise tourism task force which will facilitate greater collaboration in the region on issues related to the cruise sector.  The task force will also explore the enhancement of links between the Eastern Caribbean and the cruise home port of Puerto Rico to help increase business with the sub-region.  The meeting agreed that it will also be useful to establish a joint company that will negotiate collectively with the cruise lines.

The Ministers agreed to pursue the branding of the OECS as a joint yachting destination.  They hope to build on the joint participation by the nine OECS Member States in the 2005 edition of the Grand Pavois boat show in La Rochelle, France, the world’s third largest boat show.

The meeting discussed opportunities for sub-regional cooperation for the 2007 Cricket World Cup and in particular, the need for an effective, sustainable legacy strategy.  Member States agreed to work together to ensure a consistent level of standards which will be maintained beyond the 2007 event.  In this regard, their plans include intensive customer service training in all Member States in the build up to the world cup.

The Ministers reviewed Anguilla’s model of incentives legislation which encourages locals to, rather than sell their land, use it as equity when negotiating with overseas investors for tourism development projects, thus maintaining local ownership.   Under the Anguilla model, the government also pursues the option to lease rather then sell land.   

The meeting decided that in order to get greater financial support, more effort should be made to sensitise Ministries of Finance and Development  about the nuances of tourism development. 

It was agreed that officials from these Ministries should be part of delegations to the major Tourism Trade Fairs including ITB in Germany, World Travel Market in London and Sea Trade in Miami. 

The meeting also agreed to take up an offer by the authorities in Puerto Rico of office space in San Juan to be used for marketing, promotion and trade.  The Ministers agreed to officially commence the use of the Office by holding their next meeting in Puerto Rico in October.

The OECS Ministers were joined at the meeting by their counterparts from Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Marteen.  The meeting agreed that the procedure for future meetings will see the Council of Tourism Ministers comprising Ministers from OECS territories, meeting concurrently with a Forum of Tourism Ministers of the Eastern Caribbean, which will be a wider body including representatives of St. Martin, St. Marteen, St. Bartholomew, St. Eustatius, Saba, Martinique and Guadeloupe.  Together the joint forum will seek to move tourism forward under a regional umbrella.  The meeting was also attended by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA).