Caribbean Tourism Organization to Present New Tourism Intelligence Award at SOTIC 2025

A New Chapter in Caribbean Tourism Excellence

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) is set to unveil a pioneering regional award, the Caribbean Tourism Intelligence Award, at the upcoming State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) in 2025. This initiative highlights the Caribbean’s commitment to advancing knowledge-driven growth and evidence-based tourism strategies that enhance the region’s global standing.

The Award’s Purpose and Launch

Scheduled for October 1, 2025, during the CTO’s State of the Tourism Industry Presentation, the award will honor individuals, institutions, and companies contributing impactful data-driven research and insights. These contributions aim to boost the Caribbean’s competitiveness while promoting sustainability, resilience, and human capital development.

Aliyyah Shakeer, CTO’s Director of Research, stated that this award is a crucial step towards positioning the Caribbean as a worldwide leader in tourism strategy and innovation. By championing research and fresh perspectives, the award encourages a culture of evidence-based decisions—a key goal of CTO’s Reimagine Plan—to ensure long-term, inclusive, and resilient tourism growth.

Criteria and Eligibility

The award will evaluate nominees across three vital criteria:

• Academic and scientific excellence
• Practical industry impact
• Leadership in sector development

Nominees can include a wide array of stakeholders such as researchers, consultants, educators, students, tourism professionals, as well as firms and institutions deeply involved in tourism research and practice.

Connecting to the CTO’s Reimagine Plan Strategy

This award is anchored within CTO’s comprehensive Reimagine Plan, a strategic vision supported by five pillars:

1. Sustainable and regenerative tourism
2. Tourism intelligence
3. Advocacy
4. Market competitiveness
5. People development

At its core, the plan emphasizes operational excellence through internal reforms. It targets expanding data infrastructure, enhancing workforce skills, raising service standards, and aligning regional tourism growth with global sustainability benchmarks.

The Importance of Tourism Intelligence

By highlighting transformative research and innovation, the CTO aims to strengthen the Caribbean’s influence in shaping the future of tourism amid challenges such as climate variability, market changes, and intensifying competition worldwide.

Key Aspects of the Award and Conference

Submission guidelines and eligibility details will be made available at SOTIC 2025 and via CTO’s official channels.

Why This Matters for Travel and Transfers

Tourism intelligence is more than just data—it helps destinations fine-tune services, improve traveler experiences, and sustain competitive advantages. For taxi and transfer services, such intelligence offers a chance to align operations with evolving market trends, sustainability goals, and passenger expectations. Platforms like LocalsRide.com benefit by incorporating such market insights to enhance user experience, enabling travelers to choose exact car types, know their driver’s ratings, and transparently compare pricing before booking, which is a rising standard in modern tourism service.

Innovation Drives Growth

The Caribbean’s proactive approach to knowledge-backed tourism strategies ensures that taxis, airport transfers, and city-to-destination rides will adapt dynamically to tourism flows, seasonality, and traveler preferences highlighted by the latest data. Taxi companies equipped with such intelligence can optimize routes, improve fare structures, and elevate service quality to meet discerning tourist expectations.

Looking Ahead: The Award’s Impact on Caribbean Tourism

This award shines a spotlight on the critical role of research and innovation in tourism development. While the global tourism market is ever-changing, this regional effort to formalize intelligence-driven decision-making can inspire other destinations worldwide. It can also provide a greater cushion of resilience against unpredictable challenges that affect travel demand, environmental sustainability, and sector competitiveness.

Personal Experience Matters Most

As valuable as reviews and data analysis are, nothing substitutes firsthand experience. Recognizing this, LocalsRide offers the option to hire cars with drivers from verified providers, ensuring transparency and reliability at reasonable prices. With an extensive choice of vehicles, affordable fares, and additional service options, travelers are empowered to make well-informed, cost-effective decisions that suit their plans without surprises or unnecessary expenses. Book your ride with LocalsRide.com to enjoy convenience and peace of mind.

Summary

In essence, the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s launch of the Tourism Intelligence Award at SOTIC 2025 reveals a visionary step toward fostering sustainable, competitive, and knowledge-led tourism growth. By encouraging and honoring excellence in tourism research, the award aligns with the dynamic needs of global travelers and industry players alike.

For visitors and service providers including taxis, transfers, and private cars, such developments signal a future where data-driven insights enhance quality, service, and traveler satisfaction. Platforms like LocalsRide.com complement this trend by offering transparent, user-friendly booking experiences with detailed vehicle and driver info, making it simpler than ever to choose the best ride at the right price.

The Caribbean sets a valuable example by integrating intelligence into tourism policies, helping all stakeholders—from policymakers to taxi companies—navigate the complex touristic landscape effectively and sustainably.