THE Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) said it plans to roll-out a “Certified Caribbean Travel Advisor Expert” programme in 2023.

Making the announcement at the CHTA 40th Caribbean Travel Marketplace held in Puerto Rico last week, the association’s President Nicola Madden-Greig said the move will unify destinations and the respective brand specialist programmes, providing advisors with a better opportunity to sell the region as a whole.

“With 700 islands across 23 destinations, the only way to truly understand what the Caribbean has to offer is to create such a specialist programme to inform advisors about all of it.

“With the current, individualised programmes, there’s clearly a knowledge gap,” she said, noting that the Caribbean was much more than sun, sea and sand, pointing to the need for travel advisors to know more about the region.

“We want to ensure that travel advisors across the world really understand the full gamut of what is available in the Caribbean, and that there is absolutely fantastic diversity,” Madden-Greig stated.

Referring to statistics from American Society of Travel Advisors, she indicated that some 44 per cent of travellers have indicated that they were more likely to use a travel advisor post-COVID-19, up from 27 per cent before the pandemic, which she believes clearly underscores the need for increased training and coordination.

The travel advisor programme, which will be done as an online course, will see the CHTA partnering with various destinations along with hotel associations as the regional tourism body works to integrate programmes. The destinations and hotel associations would also get the opportunity to not only push their own courses, but to refer advisors suitable to become a certified Caribbean specialist.