Caribbean Tourism Award Honors Regional Travel Research
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CTO recognizes a study of airfare, visas, connectivity and other factors driving Caribbean travelers overseas
GEORGETOWN, Guyana — The Caribbean Tourism Organization has presented its inaugural Caribbean Tourism Intelligence Award to Dr. Dalano DaSouza and Dr. Dennis Mc Call Jr. They were honored for research into why Caribbean residents travel internationally instead of within the region.
Caribbean Tourism Intelligence Award
The award was announced at the 2026 State of the Tourism Industry Conference, known as SOTIC, in Guyana.
DaSouza accepted the award for the paper, “Decline of the Regional Traveler? Investigating New Factors Driving Substitution of Intra-Caribbean Tourism with International Travel.”
DaSouza, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is director of research, statistics and data analytics at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. Mc Call, from St. Kitts and Nevis, is a senior lecturer at Teesside University in the United Kingdom.
Why Caribbean Travelers Choose Overseas Destinations
The researchers surveyed 1,103 Caribbean nationals across 23 jurisdictions. They examined how travel costs, international flight connectivity, visa access, migration and diaspora ties affect destination choices.
Their findings indicate that age, income, education and nationality shape how travelers respond to those factors. The study recommends steps that governments, tourism authorities, airlines and regional institutions can take to improve connectivity. As a result, these steps aim to keep more tourism spending in the Caribbean.
Aliyyah Shakeer, CTO’s director of research, said the region needs research grounded in Caribbean destinations, communities, challenges and opportunities.
“That is what we hope this award will help encourage: high-quality research and analysis that not only contributes to knowledge, but can also inform policy, planning, investment and decision-making across our tourism sector,” Shakeer said.
CTO’s Tourism Intelligence Strategy
The award advances the Tourism Intelligence pillar of CTO’s Reimagine Plan. The initiative is intended to strengthen CTO’s role as a tourism intelligence center and expand the use of research, data and analysis across the Caribbean. It also recognizes work that supports tourism competitiveness, sustainability, resilience and people development.
The program grew from a proposal by CTO Secretary-General and CEO Dona Regis-Prosper ahead of SOTIC 2025 in Barbados. CTO developed the award with support from the Caribbean Tourism Researchers Network. This network operates under the International Tourism Studies Association and helped shape the evaluation criteria.
Four independent evaluators reviewed the submissions: Dr. Hugues Séraphin, Dr. Mechelle N. Best, Dr. Pauline A. Milwood and Dr. Therez B. Walker. CTO did not evaluate or score the entries. Each evaluator worked independently and did not know the identities of the other evaluators.
Caribbean Tourism Research Forum Launches
SOTIC 2026 also launched the Caribbean Tourism Research Forum, which brings researchers, policymakers and tourism professionals together to examine issues shaping the sector. Moreover, Shakeer said CTO wants to build stronger links between the forum and the award. This includes opportunities for researchers to present their work at future events.
“Ultimately, our ambition is bigger than one award or one forum. It is to help build a stronger and more connected Caribbean tourism research community — one where research is shared, where evidence informs decisions, and where the knowledge generated across our region helps us shape a more competitive, sustainable and resilient Caribbean tourism sector,” Shakeer said.
SOTIC 2026 was supported by official conference partners Amadeus and the Inter-American Development Bank. The Tourism Intelligence Awards sponsor was ASM Global Route Development. Contributing sponsors included the Association of Value Airlines, Digicel Business and Atlantic Suites Hotel. Youth Congress sponsor was Carnival Corp. Finally, the official airline partner was interCaribbean Airways.
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