Turks and Caicos Islands: Much to celebrate on World Tourism Day

Minister Connolly image courtesy of TurksandCaicos | eTurboNews | eTN
Minister Connolly - image courtesy of TurksandCaicos

The Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board, the Turks and Caicos Islands’ exclusive tourism authority, is ecstatic to celebrate World Tourism Day.

As part of that celebration, the Turks and Caicos Islands are recognizing the 2022 theme of “Rethinking Tourism” while appreciating the country’s ability to recover strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
“As we often say, in the Turks and Caicos Islands, tourism is everybody’s business. This is because it is the most significant component of our national economy. Consequently, on World Tourism Day, we are excited to reflect on the many successes we have achieved in what can be described as our bounce-back year after the height of the pandemic”, said Acting Director of the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board, Mary Lightbourne. “Based on our short-term projections and long-term vision, the future of tourism in the Turks and Caicos Islands is very promising!” Lightbourne added. 

Acting Director of the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board Mary Lightbourne | eTurboNews | eTN
Acting Director of the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board Mary Lightbourne

Over 2022, the Turks and Caicos Islands’ ability to rebound from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been remarkable. Preliminary data from January 2022 – March 2022 indicates that the Turks and Caicos Islands welcomed 98.5% of the stayover visitors that it did from January 2019 – March 2019, which was one of the most successful tourism quarters in the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands.


 
This year, the Turks and Caicos Islands was named the World’s Hottest Travel Destination for Fall 2022 by Tripadvisor, and won “Caribbean’s Leading Beach Destination” as well as “Caribbean’s Most Romantic Destination” at the World Travel Awards.

Through a strategic partnership with J. Wade Public Relations, an international public relations firm, the Turks and Caicos Islands has achieved unprecedented results in media coverage. From January 2022 to September 2022, this partnership has obtained 113 placements and 2.39 billion total gross impressions with a total media value of $238.5 million. In this 9-month span, this partnership has exceeded all of its public relations results for 2021 – and it has already secured more press trips for the rest of the year, which will continue to elevate these results.

 “The United Nations World Tourism Organization’s 2022 World Tourism Day’s theme of ‘Rethinking Tourism’ fits the Turks and Caicos Islands perfectly. With the collective efforts of tourism stakeholders across the country, we have been able to rapidly rebound and repeat the results of one of our most successful pre-pandemic quarters”, said Minister of Tourism, Hon. Josephine Connolly. “Now, we are looking at taking tourism in the Turks and Caicos Islands to even greater heights by transitioning our Tourist Board to a Destination Management Organization and Tourism Regulatory Authority. These entities will standardize and strengthen the world-class experiences that the Turks and Caicos Islands is known for across all entities in our tourism economy and facilitate the development of an even more sustainable and resilient tourism product,” added Hon. Connolly.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz, eTN editor

Linda Hohnholz, eTN editor

Linda Hohnholz has been writing and editing articles since the start of her working career. She has applied this innate passion to such places as Hawaii Pacific University, Chaminade University, the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center, and now TravelNewsGroup.

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