CARIBBEAN TOURISM ORGANIZATION LAUNCHES RELIEF FUND FOR
MEMBER STATES HIT BY HURRICANES

BARBADOS (Sept. 10, 2004) - The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the region’s tourism development agency, has moved to provide relief to member countries affected by Hurricanes Frances and Ivan.

CTO has launched the "Caribbean Tourism Organization Relief Fund" to provide monetary assistance to the impacted member states. The regional tourism body has already established an account in the United States to which donations may be made. Checks in U.S. dollars may be written to Caribbean Tourism Organization Relief Fund and sent to the CTO's New York office located at 80 Broad Street, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, USA. Funds can be transferred directly to the Caribbean Tourism Organization Relief Fund, JP Morgan Chase Bank, 401 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017. The Account number is 134-0821672-65 and the routing number is 021000021.

CTO will establish similar accounts in Barbados, Canada and the United Kingdom. Details regarding these accounts will be released shortly.

CTO is also encouraging its Allied membership and its partners to assist in the provision and delivery of supplies and has asked those who wish to donate such supplies and services to Grenada and other countries affected by the hurricanes to do so through the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA).

"We believe that in addition to the communication support that we are providing we have a responsibility to do whatever we can do to bring relief to our member countries affected by the hurricanes," Jean Holder, CTO’s secretary general said.

Since the passage of the storms CTO has also served as the coordinating centre for information on how the storms have impacted the tourism sector in the member countries. CTO is also keeping the media and consumers informed of those destinations that have not been affected by any of the hurricanes.

In addition, CTO has included a special "Hurricane Information" page in the Information Centre of its intranet site, www.onecaribbean.org. All hurricane-related releases from CTO, releases from member countries and their public relations representatives, a Hurricane Procedures Manual produced by CTO and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and updates from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief Agency (CDERA), which include the immediate needs of countries affected, can be found on this page.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with headquarters in Barbados and marketing operations in New York, London and Toronto, is the Caribbean’s tourism development agency and comprises membership of more than 30 governments and a myriad of private sector companies.

The CTO’s mission is to provide to and through its members, the services and information needed for the development of sustainable tourism for the economic and social benefit of the Caribbean people. The organization provides specialized support and technical assistance to member countries in the areas of marketing, human resource development, research and information technology, and sustainable development.