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PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - A delegation from St. Maarten will be attending Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the region's largest and most significant marketing forum, in the Bahamas, from Jan. 31 - Feb. 2, 2017 at Atlantis, Paradise Island. The event is being hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA).

Caribbean Travel Marketplace affords tourism suppliers the vital opportunity to meet face-to-face with wholesalers from around the world selling Caribbean vacation packages over the course of two days of business meetings.

CHTA will offer a full day of professional development opportunities for attendees on Jan. 31, 2017, followed by the Opening Ceremonies in the evening. The educational sessions will provide attendees with the tools for developing revenue-generating opportunities that will help them make money and cut costs.

Due to urgent and pending matters on St. Maarten, Interim Minister of Tourism Rafael Boasman will not be attending the event. Instead, Boasman has asked his colleague Minister Emil Lee to represent St. Maarten. The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) will also be represented at the event along with Julian Lake, Senior Policy Advisor at the Cabinet of the Minister of Tourism.

“We have identified a number of key events in 2017 that we will be attending as we seek to boost business to St. Maarten which, in turn, will boost our tourism product. Marketplace is not new territory for us, but it remains vital for building short and long-term business for hoteliers and other companies,” Boasman said.

A key part of the event will be the meeting of the Council of Tourism Ministers and Commissioners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). Tourism Ministers from around the Caribbean has a packed agenda for this meeting.

Points up for discussion include funding the promotion and administration of Caribbean tourism, using technology for more effective passenger facilitation, Public/Private Partnership – Plans for marketing the Caribbean in 2017, Expanding the concept of a Caribbean Basin Tourism Initiative and Highlighting culture and the development of the Caribbean’s Human Capital.