From News Desk

Jamaica will host the second annual Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Air Connectivity Summit in Kingston on Feb 23rd, 2027, building on the success of this year’s inaugural event in Bermuda and aiming to advance regional air travel amid ongoing global challenges.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett made the announcement while speaking at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Antigua on Thursday.

“The summit will provide strategic insight for regional planning,” Minister Bartlett said. “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.”

The Jamaican tourism leader noted the timing will coincide with heightened focus on resilience, coming just one week after the United Nations-designated Global Tourism Resilience Day on Feb 17th, an initiative Jamaica championed.

The summit follows the first CTO Air Connectivity Summit held Feb 24th, 2026 in Hamilton, Bermuda. That event drew ministers and directors of tourism, airline executives, airport leaders and industry stakeholders to address capacity gaps, high taxes and fees; and the need for stronger intra-regional and long-haul services.

In her summit wrap-up remarks, Rosa Harris, chair of the CTO Airlift Committee and director of tourism for the Cayman Islands, described air connectivity as “our oxygen” and “an economic lifeline” for the region.

“If we can’t get off the island, we can’t develop business, we can’t feed our people,” Harris said. She highlighted two major milestones achieved: delivery of the CTO Airlift Study by ASM and the successful hosting of the inaugural summit.

Harris emphasised data-driven route development, noting the study showed steady traffic growth alongside capacity gaps in Europe and key South American markets, specifically in Italy, Argentina, Chile and Brazil; with strong potential for new direct services.

“Competition is our fragmentation, we must expand our collective marketing power,” Harris quoted Sint Maarten Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism Grisha Heyliger-Marten. Calls were made for a shift from competition to collaboration, stronger alignment among ministries of finance, immigration and tourism, interline agreements, and ensuring adequate and diverse accommodations while carefully managing seat capacity.