Former Grenada tourism minister Brenda Hood is among six stalwarts of Caribbean tourism to be honoured by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) allied membership at the Travel Industry Awards Dinner during Caribbean Week New York (#CWNY2019) next month.

Hood is the chairman of the Grenada Tourism Authority, and has served at various stages during her career on the CTO’s human resources technical committee, and the boards of the then Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (now the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency) and the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas.

She, along with Colin James, chief executive office of the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority, will receive the Allied Award for outstanding contributions to the region’s development.

The Allied Award was established in 2005 to recognise individuals within the CTO family – government, airline, cruise line, allied and affiliate members and CTO staff – who have done an extraordinary job of contributing, in a tangible way, to the sustainable development of the region.

Tourism director of the Cayman Islands, Rosa Harris, along with Laura Davidson, president and founder of Laura Davidson Public Relations, will be celebrated with the Jerry Award for the passion with which they serve the region.

Established in 1997 in memory of the late Jerry Magit who represented the allied members on the CTO’s board of directors, the Jerry Award recognises people who demonstrate a passion for the region and have dedicated time, energy, financial, and other personal and professional resources to its development.

Meanwhile, Noel Mignott, president and chief executive officer of The PM Group, and Annette Stowe, internet and conference administrator at CTO-USA, Inc., will receive the Special Recognition Award for high performance. This award honours high-performance individuals whose contributions, particularly in the last year, have truly made a difference among the region or Caribbean community and/or industry. It is not limited to service directly in the travel arena, but for service in any ancillary industry that supports tourism and brings continuous positive recognition to the region.

In addition to the CTO allied membership awards, CTO will announce the winners of the travel media awards and will present its Lifetime Achievement Award, its Distinguished Caribbean Citizen Award and its Award of Excellence, among others, while Jamaica will present the Marcella Martinez and the Marcia Vickery-Wallace awards.

The Travel Industry Awards Dinner will take place on Thursday 6 June from 7 – 10 p.m. at the Wyndham New Yorker (481 Eighth Avenue). Tickets for the dinner can be purchased online only via https://www.caribbeanweek.com/events/caribbean-tourism-industry-awards-dinner/.