Delegates to the Preparatory Meeting will examine the proposed agenda for the Tourism Ministerial meeting on April 4. On April 5, the Extraordinary Meeting of the Special Committee on Sustainable Tourism will focus on the identification of tourism policy priority issues within the Work Programme of the ACS Tourism Directorate for the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Caribbean (STZC), namely Multi-destination Tourism, Sustainable Tourism Policy Development, Tourism Safety and Security and Language Training.

The ACS Tourism Ministerial Meeting is being held in response to the mandate of the ACS 4 th Summit of Heads of States and/or Government held in Panama in July of 2005. In the Panama Declaration, ACS Heads instructed the Secretariat to convene a high level meeting of Ministers and/or tourism authorities from ACS Members States and Associate Members and specialised organisations, to examine public tourism policies and to focus on those associated with the cruise industry.

The government of the Republic of Cuba has already offered to host the ACS Tourism Ministerial Meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Havana, Cuba, in May 2006.

About the ACS

The Association of Caribbean States is the organization for consultation, cooperation and concerted action in trade, transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters in the Greater Caribbean. Its Member States are Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. Its Associate Members are Aruba , France on behalf of French Guiana , Guadeloupe , and Martinique , and the Netherlands Antilles .

For further information, please contact:

Denise Lewis Martínez
Communications Officer
Association of Caribbean States
E-mail: communications@acs-aec.org
Tel : 1-868-622-9575
Fax : 1-868-622-1653