-says Caribbean nations must use technology wisely, work together to survive
PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali has urged Caribbean countries to develop shared strategies for artificial intelligence, digital resilience and cybersecurity, warning that no country in the Region is large enough to respond effectively on its own.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) 2026, Ali said that digital technology was already shaping how potential visitors discovered destinations and formed expectations about travel.
“If you ask a young child in the Caribbean to tell you places of the world they want to see, they will give you their interpretation through what they get on social media on the devices, and also through what AI is demonstrating to them,” he said.
President Ali argued that the Region needed to make better use of those technologies and work collectively to build the expertise and systems required.
“So, we have to leverage, and we are too small to leverage individually. We have to come up with an AI strategy for the Region, a cybersecurity strategy for the Region. Otherwise, we will not be adopting [sic]. We will not be flexible, nimble enough to make the changes that are essential for survival,” the President said.
Without a coordinated approach, he warned, Caribbean destinations risked being too slow or insufficiently flexible to adapt to changes in the tourism market. He said regional co-operation would be important to ensure countries could adopt new tools and respond to emerging challenges.
Dr Ali also pointed to digital tourism initiatives abroad as examples of how technology could be used to attract visitors. Citing Qatar, he said people could experience aspects of the country from overseas through virtual shows and digital platforms designed to generate interest in travelling there.
He described digital tourism as part of a broader investment programme that included workforce development and integrated transport and tourism infrastructure.
SHARED VISION
He further urged Caribbean countries to develop a shared tourism vision for 2035, with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) playing a central role in connecting the Region to new partners and markets.
President Ali said the Region should agree collectively on which major international events it wants to attract and build the infrastructure needed to host them.
“We can collectively decide that by 2035 there are 10 events that we want to bring to the Region,” he said, noting that countries acting together would be better placed to compete for global events than those pursuing them individually.
President Ali said a longer-term plan should also reflect the scale of change under way in tourism and the wider global economy; governments and businesses, he said, needed to plan ahead and work together rather than rely on short-term or disconnected decisions.
He called on the conference to help set out a regional direction. “We need the conference to deliver to the people of the Region a vision to 2035, in which CTO places itself central to that vision,” he said.
He said the organisation should help connect the Caribbean to new partnerships and markets and support the Region’s integration with them.
The president emphasised to his audience that investments in transport and other infrastructure should be considered part of a wider regional system. He pointed to developments in other parts of the world, where countries were building connected tourism ecosystems, and argued that the Caribbean needed stronger links between destinations if visitors were to travel more easily across the Region.
President Ali also said the Region should look beyond its traditional tourism offer and consider how it could attract events, develop new experiences and appeal to changing markets. He warned that the Caribbean risked falling behind if it relied on its natural attractions without investing in the infrastructure and partnerships needed to support them.
