Durrant Pate/Contributor                               

As regional tourism leaders intensify efforts to improve air travel across the Caribbean amid ongoing global economic and geopolitical challenges, Jamaica will host the second annual Caribbean Tourism Organisation Air Connectivity Summit in Kingston next year.

The Summit will bring together tourism ministers, airline executives, airport officials and other stakeholders to tackle longstanding regional aviation issues, including limited seat capacity, high taxes and fees, and weak intra-Caribbean connectivity. Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, made the announcement of Jamaica being the next host during his address at the recent Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Antigua.

The CTO Air Connectivity Summit in Jamaica will be held on February 23, and the timing will align closely with the island’s observance of Global Tourism Resilience Day on February 17, an initiative championed by Jamaica and recognised by the United Nations. Minister Bartlett declared that the Air Connectivity Summit will provide strategic insight for regional planning.

According to him, “Jamaica will use that as a means not only of bringing airline partners together, but also to engage in some cerebration … some thinking around the future of air connectivity in our region, which is so important.” He told the CTO delegates that the upcoming summit builds on momentum from its inaugural Air Connectivity Summit, which was held on February 24, 2026, in Hamilton, the capital city of Bermuda. 

Two key achievements from inaugural summit

In her closing remarks at the Bermuda summit, Chair of the CTO Airlift Committee and director of tourism for the Cayman Islands, Rosa Harris, described air connectivity as “our oxygen” and “an economic lifeline” for Caribbean nations. She pointed to two key achievements from the summit: the completion of the CTO Airlift Study by aviation consultancy, ASM and the successful staging of the first connectivity summit.

The study revealed continued passenger growth but also identified major capacity gaps in Europe and South America, particularly in markets such as Italy, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, which were highlighted as having strong potential for new direct air services to the Caribbean. Regional tourism officials were urged to develop stronger business cases for airlines, reduce dependence on high taxes and airport fees, optimise current airport infrastructure and expand collaborative marketing efforts to support new routes.

Participants also called for greater collaboration among ministries responsible for tourism, finance and immigration, as well as more interline agreements and better coordination of hotel room supply with airline seat capacity. The Bermuda summit additionally resulted in a memorandum of understanding between the Caribbean Tourism Organisation and Airports Council International – Latin America and the Caribbean aimed at strengthening aviation-tourism cooperation across the region.

CTO Secretary General, Dona Regis-Prosper said maintaining momentum will be critical heading into the 2027 summit. “Hosting the 2027 summit in Jamaica will allow us to translate the insights from Bermuda into concrete actions, forging new partnerships, addressing persistent challenges in airlift and strengthening the One Caribbean vision for resilient, connected growth,” she declared.

Advancing planning for summit in Jamaica

Regis-Prosper is to travel to Jamaica soon to meet with the Director of Tourism, Donovan White, to advance planning for the summit, which will focus on route development strategies, infrastructure optimisation, expanded interline agreements and diversifying source markets. The renewed push for stronger airlift comes as Caribbean destinations seek to navigate geopolitical uncertainty while capitalising on strong tourism growth from South America.

The region recorded a 23.7% increase in arrivals from South America in 2025, reaching 2.4 million visits. Separately, Saint Lucia will host the inaugural CTO Latin American Market Summit on May 5-6, 2027, with a major focus on improving air connectivity to the rapidly expanding Latin American market.