Caribbean must diversify tourism product

Bharrat Jagdeo

Former president Bharrat Jagdeo says the Caribbean must combine its traditional tourism products with other kinds of services in order to become a more sustainable and viable tourist destination, in his address at the 13th annual Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Conference.

Jagdeo on Monday told the conference that with global temperatures expected to rise by four degrees above pre-industrial level, the forest and corals will die as the sea rises, resulting in the loss of beaches in the Caribbean. Tourism officials, he said, should endeavour to highlight this impending reality to governments who may not be fully aware of the severity of the issue.

The former president said he hopes that the conference will review a clear-cut plan to get the entire Caribbean, possibly through a single visa policy, to come into the different territories so that new