REPORT FROM JAMAICA - PROFIT: PROFIT in the Caribbean business meeting opened successfully at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Montego Bay, Jamaica on the 5th of October. The aim of this Partnership meeting is to promote investments and other business partnerships between Caribbean projects and European and third country investors and partners. More than 320 participants attend the interactive workshops, the keynote speeches and attending the one-to-one business meetings and networking sections that provide the perfect opportunity to make valuable business contacts. Attendees as well are having the opportunity to meet with representatives from Development and Financial institutions as well as Ministers from the region.

PROFIT is being organised within the framework of EU-ACP- African Caribbean and Pacific countries (Investment Promotion Programme-PRO€INVEST-which is managed by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise. This event is organised in collaboration with the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), CARICOM, the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the International Hotel and Restaurant Associations (IH&RA).

Over 100 quality Caribbean projects participating in this PROFIT Partnership Meeting, in the broad spectrum of:

• Hotel Management and development


• Airline and Airport operations


• Tour operators


• Infrastructure


• Hospitality Services


• IT Services


• Marketing Services

From the sessions so far it reveals that tourism and especially European tourism is increasingly important to the Caribbean with the Spanish Caribbean to lead the capital investment. The emphasis on accommodation development is on larger modern accommodation units of a scale to be linked to charter flight access. There is also attention on boutique resorts particularly on smaller island destinations.

Opportunities for partnership in various forms have been identified and as stated there is no better time to invest in the Caribbean in the light of the Windies World Cup Cricket 2007.

It is anticipated that this event will open up a series of actions that will be relayed by PRO€INVEST-CDE to the benefit of intermediary organisations and enterprises of the tourism sector. Fruitful contacts and negotiations will certainly lead to partnership initiatives.