July 25, 2007
On 20 July 2007, the first CARICOM Tourism Dialogue was held at the Kerry Centre Hotel, Beijing. It was organized by the Heads of Mission of the six Caribbean Community countries, Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica and Suriname, that have a diplomatic presence in Beijing.
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From left to right: Mr. Miller, Bahamas Embassy; Amb. McCook, Jamaica Embassy and Mme. Li Xiaolin, Vice President, CPAFFC.
The Dialogue was designed as a brain-storming exercise rather than a promotional one, to establish clearly the realities of China-Caribbean tourism. Further it was a follow-up to the granting by the Chinese Government, in 2005, of Approved Destination Status to ten CARICOM countries, to facilitate the flow of Chinese tourists to the Region.
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Mr. Miller delivers welcoming remark.
Welcoming remarks were made by Mr. Philip Miller, Head of Mission, Bahamas Embassy and Dialogue Moderator; and H.E. Wayne McCook, Ambassador of Jamaica and Coordinator of the CARICOM Caucus. Government officials addressing the Dialogue were Mme. Li Xiaolin, Vice President, Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC); H.E. Zeng Gang, Director-General of Department, Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Mme. Li Yaying, Deputy Director-General, China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). Also in attendance was Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu, Special Envoy to the Caribbean.
Participants from the Major airlines were Mr. Zheng Guang, Senior Analyst, Marketing, Air China; Mr. Zhang Dezhi, Director, Governmental Affairs, International Affairs & Alliance, Commercial Steering Committee, China Southern; Mr. Sandeep Bahl, General Manager, Northwest Airlines; Mr. Oliver Hao, Director, Continental Airlines; Ms. Jennifer Ballard, Sales Manager, American Airlines; and Mr. Frank Legre, General Manager, Air France/ KLM.
Media representatives were Mr. Andrew Wong, General Manager, Beijing Tattler Magazine; Mr. Chen Jingyuan, Channel Director, The Travel Channel; and Mr. Li Sen, Chief Editor, Sohu.com Travel.
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Leading outbound operators contributing at the D