SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The well-heeled, highly mobile and often overlooked Caribbean Diaspora will be encouraged to take part in tourism planning at the upcoming Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx). The 12th full CMEx edition slated for May 15 to 19 in Puerto Rico will also examine how local communities can benefit from tourism.
The innovative symposium returns to Puerto Rico attracting representatives of the tourism industry, government officials, media, youth delegates and development specialists to examine ways of using tourism to improve the health, wealth, environment and culture of destinations.
Terestella González Denton
“Puerto Rico tourism officials, led by the visionary Terestella González Denton (Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company), understand that a well-managed tourism industry can stimulate both economic and social development without compromising its natural and cultural resource base,” said the president of Counterpart International, Lelei LeLaulu, who was pleased to host the meeting on the island for the third consecutive year.
LeLaulu said that the meeting will take a serious look at the overseas-based Caribbean Diaspora community, whether English-, Spanish-, French- or Dutch-speaking. “The Caribbean Diaspora remains a largely untapped market from a visitor and investment perspective,” said LeLaulu, who added “the Diaspora is a rich source of concepts and ideas, seed and venture capital, and has been only partially exploited by Caribbean marketers and national and regional government agencies.”
González Denton said she was particularly excited about exploring CMEx’s theme since the Puerto Rico community in the United States, for example, plays a major role promoting the island and spending money in the local economy when they visit. “These are our ambassadors whose contributions can be directly linked to the revitalization of communities on our island,” she said.
“Embracing the Diaspora, Linking Communities” will dominate CMEx XII, a four-day event which will attract some of the best minds in the region and beyond in the lively interactive format that is a hallmark of the CMEx series.
