
BRIDGETOWN — The Caribbean Tourism Organization says it hopes a new deal with Airbnb will diversify its tourism industry, expand economic opportunities for the Caribbean people and promote Caribbean tourism and highlight Caribbean history and culture.
Both the CTO and Airbnb have pledged to share data and studies with policymakers about the positive impact of the sharing economy in the region; identify ways to make it more inclusive; and broaden the benefits of tourism to non-traditional actors, attract new stakeholders and focus on providing “amazing and unique travel and cultural experiences to visitors”.
The CTO will be able to review Airbnb’s aggregate data and will brief key stakeholders on the value of a peer-to-peer review mechanisms.
“The CTO is establishing a basis for mutual cooperation with Airbnb. It is important for us to examine all aspects of this important segment of the sharing economy,” said CTO secretary general and chief executive officer Hugh Riley. “We believe that by clearly understanding Airbnb’s massive influence in capturing consumers’ interest in unique accommodations we will be in a position to properly advise our members and to allow the Caribbean to achieve the goals of year-round profitability, visitor satisfaction and sustainable tourism development.”
Go get those tax dollars already!