Tourism industry leaders from throughout the Caribbean region are set to meet in June to discuss new opportunities within the sector and potential avenues of investment.

The Invest Caribbean 2011 Power Breakfast, which takes place in New York on June 9, is jointly hosted by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAACI) and media group Hard Beat Communications. 

The Bahamas is a member of CTO.

High profile speakers such as W. Dave Dowrich, vice president of investment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co, and founder of the Brilla Group David Brillembourg will address attendees on investment opportunities in the region. “The Caribbean Tourism Organization is proud to team up with Hard Beat and CAACI to present this event since, in these tough economic times, investment in the Caribbean is critical and the CTO believes strongly in continuing to boost the tourism sector of this vibrant region by presenting investment opportunities for its members,” said director of CTO-USA Sylma Brown Bramble.

According to the latest figures released by CTO in February 2011, tourist stop-over arrivals to The Bahamas from January 2010 to September 2010 totalled just over one million, with the majority of those visitors arriving from the US. March was the most popular month with more than 157,000 arrivals recorded. 

The Bahamas also enjoyed healthy cruise ship arrivals in 2010, around 3.8 million passengers arrived between January and December of that year–a 16.8 per cent increase on the previous year. 

The Ministry of Tourism and Aviation is hoping to boost arrivals further with the introduction of a new air route this year. In June, Copa Airlines will begin flying its nonstop service from Nassau to Panama three times a week, which is estimated to bring in around 14,500 new visitors in the first year of operation.