CTO, The Travel Foundation Strengthen Partnership Advancing Climate-Ready, Community-Centered Tourism in the Caribbean
BERLIN, GERMANY, March 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Caribbean tourism leaders used one of the world’s largest travel trade events to press the global community for faster, finance-ready adaptation to climate change, warning that theoretical plans and fragmented funding are leaving heavily tourism-dependent destinations exposed.
Speaking at ITB Berlin 2026 last week during a session titled “The Climate Adaptation Gap in Tourism: From Risk to Resilience,” Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Secretary-General and CEO Dona Regis-Prosper described the region’s experience with extreme weather as immediate and unrelenting. “There is no teacher as great as a practical experience,” she stated, reflecting on her personal experience with devastating hurricanes in the region.
Building on that lived experience, the Secretary-General urged a shift from theory to practical adaptation and resilience in action, underscoring the importance of public-private collaboration and media engagement in addressing the ravages of climate change.
CTO Deputy Director of Sustainable Tourism Narendra Ramgulam also emphasized the Caribbean’s frontline exposure to climate impacts during an earlier session, “These Ideas Will Transform Tourism,” where he evaluated new tools aimed at assessing climate and nature risks.
“When you talk about climate risk, we see it and we feel it more than others,” he said, noting that reef degradation, beach erosion and other environmental changes are already affecting the visitor experience and tourism livelihoods across the region.
Ramgulam stressed that new solutions must work for smaller island states with limited resources. He also pointed to a persistent regional challenge in translating climate priorities into funded projects. “Across the Caribbean, there’s no shortage of climate risk information or project ideas,” he said. “What we consistently struggle with is turning those priorities into finance projects which can actually move forward.”
A highlight of the convention was the renewal of a partnership between CTO and The Travel Foundation, strengthening the framework for collaboration aimed at advancing sustainable, climate-resilient and community-centered tourism across the Caribbean. The updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed by Regis-Prosper and The Travel Foundation CEO Jeremy Sampson, marks a bolstering of the partnership between the two organizations.
Sampson affirmed, “The Caribbean is on the frontlines of climate change, but it is also at the forefront of innovation. This partnership is grounded in a shared belief that the future competitiveness of Caribbean tourism depends on its ability to deliver equitable benefits for local communities while adapting to the growing impacts of climate change. The collaboration offers a platform to align climate action, destination stewardship and resourcing pathways, supporting CTO and its members to ensure tourism continues to serve communities while adapting to growing risks.”
Regis-Prosper noted the partnership “aligns with the CTO Reimagine Plan and reinforces our commitment to leading sustainable tourism across the Caribbean. Through this collaboration, we will work with our member states and partners to advance a shared regional approach that strengthens resilience, advances community benefit and ensures our tourism sector remains competitive in a changing climate.”
CTO representatives maintained a prominent stand throughout the three-day convention, holding bilateral meetings under a unified Caribbean banner to build partnerships on resilience and regenerative tourism.
PHOTO CAPTION
CTO Secretary-General and CEO Dona Regis-Prosper and Jeremy Sampson, CEO of The Travel Foundation, sign the Memorandum of Understanding at ITB Berlin 2026, strengthening a partnership to advance climate-resilient, community-centered tourism across the Caribbean. Also pictured are Gale Malic-Ozaeta, Marketing and Communications Manager, Belize Tourism Board (left), and Narendra Ramgulam, Deputy Director of Sustainable Tourism, CTO (right).
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