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| Participants at E-Tourism seminar |
BASSETERRE (15th October, 2009): More than 60 participants, representing various sectors of the tourism industry, took part in an E-Tourism seminar, as part of this year’s Tourism Awareness Month of Activities.
The impact of Information Communication Technology in Tourism was explored extensively, through dynamic discussions with tourism stakeholders.
Participants at the seminar included those from the Ministries of Tourism and Culture, the hotel sector, restaurant owners, taxi operators, craft vendors, bankers, tour operators, the Nevis Tourism Authority, the local media, airline agents and other stakeholders in the tourism industry.
Seminar concentrated on understanding E-Tourism, social media, E-Mail marketing, and other applications of the Internet in the tourism industry.
Participants were provided with relevant information to assess the opportunities and impact of information and communication technologies in the tourism sector and to highlight the different responsibilities of parties involved in the development of E-tourism in the Federation of St Kitts & Nevis.
Networking and communications expert for the ICT, Ms. Telly Onu, said participants should now be able to acknowledge the great potential of ICTs and the Internet as an additional distribution channel for promoting their products.
Onu further pointed out that participants should be able to assess the need for the use of ICT in the formation of a Destination Management Organization (DMO) in St. Kitts/Nevis, and the role it can play in marketing the Federation.
The Information Communication Technology for Improving Education, Diversification and Competitiveness Project (ICT4EDC) hosted the seminar, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, and the St. Kitts Tourism Authority.
The seminar is first of many E-Tourism activities to be launched in the next two years and the precursor to a much larger E-Tourism Summit that would be held in St. Kitts and Nevis targeting regional and International experts in 2010.