Caribbean research & statistical officers enhance data collection and analysis skills at CTO workshop

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – A five-day workshop aimed at helping member countries of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) strengthen their capacity to collect and analyse tourism data opens here today.

The 7-11 December workshop will augment the technical abilities of CTO members in their quest to expand and diversify their tourism research and data pool, said Winfield Griffith, CTO’s director of research and information technology.

The workshop will focus on executing and managing tourism surveys; processing and presenting data from the surveys; scientific analysis and use of tourism surveys and other data in private and public research and planning ; and use of modern technology in tourism research and data dissemination.

“It is important that we advance the research programme in the Caribbean in a consistent and coordinated manner to ensure that the economic and social contribution and impacts of tourism are measured accurately,” said Mr. Griffith.

The workshop aims to provide participants with a better appreciation for what is required to extend the areas of their research and data bases; better equip participants to undertake routine research; and improve their ability to commission and direct larger tourism research projects.

Some 20 senior research and statistical officers from 11 CTO member countries – Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines, – are participating in the workshop being held at CTO Headquarters in Barbados. These officers are responsible for providing the various governments and tourism stakeholders with the tools and information that are necessary to evaluate the industry.

“Their role is critical especially at this time when the global economy is in crisis and the reverberation in the Caribbean economy is even more acute due to the region’s dependence on tourism from the industrialized world,” added Mr. Griffith, who is one of the main presenters.

CTO, as the region’s tourism development agency, provides research, human resources, marketing, communications and technology services internationally to its public and private sector members. CTO has been in the forefront of recent efforts to interface with the governments of the US and UK on a range of issues affecting Caribbean tourism. This workshop is part of its programme to enhance the human resources capacity in its over 30 member countries and is in response to strong demand from our member countries for training in this area, the Research and IT director stated.

Other presenters at the Regional Workshop on Tourism Survey Management, Data Collection & Analysis and the Estimation of Visitor Spending will come from both within and outside the CTO secretariat and include Dwayne Devonish of the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and Tyrone Clarke, a tourism consultant.