Caribbean Week in New York 2026 brings tourism leaders together for highly anticipated summit

New York:  Tourism ministers and officials from across the Caribbean have gathered in New York this week at the InterContinental New York Times Square for Caribbean Week in New York 2026. This highly anticipated weeklong summit is taking place from June 1 to 5 and it aligns with Caribbean American Heritage Month and is being commenced under the theme : “One Caribbean: Infinite experiences.”

Organised by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the summit aims to secure the international market, strengthen economic resilience and present a unified front to global stakeholders. The summit comes as the Caribbean tourism sector celebrates a major milestone of welcoming 900,000 more stayovers in 2025 than in 2024 while surpassing the pre-pandemic tourism positioning. There has been a significant shift in traveller preferences from traditional “sun, sand, and sea” passive vacation to authentic, cultural and regenerative tourism.

Ministers and commissioners from across Caribbean nations including: St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint-Martin, St. Eustatius, Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) are part of the summit. Along with them the gathering will also see the participation of the ministerial representative from Belize, Curacao, and Saint Lucia. The opening would be addressed by Governor Albert Byron Jr. of the USVI.

CTO Chairman Ian Gooding-Edghill (Tourism Minister of Barbados) and USVI Governor Albert Bryan Jr. commenced the opening ceremony on Monday, emphasizing the massive Caribbean diaspora in the New York tri state area as brand ambassadors followed by  the delegation of tourism leaders taking the centre stage for the highly anticipated session “Around the Caribbean in 60 minutes.”

The closed-door ministerial council meeting is now in session with discussions on critical regional policies, supply side, airlift challenges, and sustainable development initiatives going on. Ministers along with directors of tourism will directly communicate with travel industry stakeholders, tour operators and travel advisors, and global media outlets to ensure the region’s economic future.

The extensive 2026 program highlights key strategic nuances to navigate the changing global environment including, global tourism marketing, airlift expansion, and sustainability and technological innovations. Hosted by Caribbean media personality Alex Jordan, the awards dinner would feature a keynote speech by the managing director for the Caribbean and Latin America at United Airlines, Christine Valls. It will also include the launch of a new scholarship fund for women in tourism.

The main highlights of the week includes the introduction of the CTO’s Supply Side Committee, CTO Regional Nex-Gen Tourism Showcase, and the launch of CTO TV.