Tonight the Hon. Kenneth Bryan, Minister of Tourism for the Cayman Islands and outgoing Chair for the Caribbean Tourism Organization announced the election of the Hon. Ian Gooding-Edghill, the Minister of Tourism for Barbados to take over the CTO Chairmanship.
This was the highlight during the spectacular SOTIC dinner party in the sand, arranged for CTO delegates at the 7-mile beach in front of the Westin Hotel, that is hosting the event.
This announcement will be made official at the conference on Thursday.
The party had little speeches, great networking, and was a lot of fun. It ended with fire dances, fireworks, and homegrown music by the Cayman Kitchen Band.
Who is Mr. Gooding-Edghill?
Mr. Gooding-Edghill began his executive career in human resource management with Marriott Hotels and Resorts. In 1994, he was recruited into St. James Beach Hotels Plc, the first Barbadian company to be floated on the London Stock Exchange, and served as its Group Trainer, Group Human Resources Manager, and later, Human Resources Director.
In August 1997 when Elegant Hotels Limited was acquired by a private equity firm, Mr. Gooding-Edghill remained as its Human Resources Director.
In May 2015, he was one of the business executives responsible for the listing of Elegant Hotels Group PLC on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), on the London Stock Exchange with a market cap of £88.8m. He also served on the Board of Directors of related Elegant Hotels Group of Companies. He remained with the Elegant Hotels Executive team and completed his contractual obligations in July 2020, before joining the Cabinet of Barbados.
Mr. Gooding-Edghill served as a member of the Barbados Senate (Upper House of Parliament) from 2003 until 2007. He served as President of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation from 2008 until 2016, Chairman of the Transport Board from 2002 until 2008, and from 2019-2020. He also served as Chairman of the National Insurance Board, a US$1.5 billion Social Security fund from 2018 until 2020.
In July 2020, Mr. Gooding-Edghill was appointed as the Minister of Transport Works and Water Resources. Following the 2022 General Election, he was assigned as Minister of Health and Wellness. On October 26, 2022, Mr. Gooding-Edghill was appointed as Minister of Tourism and International Transport.
