SOTIC 2026: “We have to go bigger” – Pres Ali urges Caribbean to pursue luxury tourism

…says region needs to work together to attract major intl events

With luxury tourism fast becoming a preferred attraction, Caribbean nations are being encouraged to leverage resources to create luxury resorts and unique hospitality products to tap into this niche market.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) is hosting its State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) in Georgetown this week. Under the theme “Tourism Futures: Smart, Sustainable, and Inclusive”, the event brings together Caribbean Governments, investors, and tourism businesses to examine the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of the region’s tourism.
Delivering the featured address at the opening ceremony on Wednesday at Atlantic Suites by Hyatt in Kingston, Georgetown, President Dr Irfaan Ali emphasised the need for Caribbean countries to “scale up” their thinking and make bold investments on the tourism products being demanded around the world.
One such area he pointed out that is attracting growing interest is luxury tourism – something in which the Middle East is already leading.
“They’re concentrating on luxury resorts and hospitality. Luxury resorts and hospitality, and luxury resorts and hospitality that are not overpriced,” the President stated, adding that the Middle East is also grabbing all the major international events such as sports and entertainment.

“Almost all the global events the Middle East is going for and winning those events… luxury entertainment and high-class sporting events. Today, most of the world’s best sporting rehab centres are in the Middle East. Most of the global athletes are establishing their home or footprint in the Middle East. So, they are bringing that natural branding with the star power to their shores… They’re going after every single major concert and festival. And I’m saying this because you must understand this is all part of our market also – concerts, festivals, sports.”

Scale our thinking
The Guyanese leader acknowledged, however, that Caribbean nations do not have the resources, as the Middle East does, to invest at such a scale. Citing that countries like Mexico, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic are already making the move to build out the infrastructure to capitalise on the luxury tourism market, Ali believes that the Caribbean do the same if countries come together.
“We can’t individually go for some of these events, but collectively we can decide that by 2035, there are 10 events that we want to bring to the region, and how do we create the infrastructure to bring those events… And that is why I like the idea of Barbados also, of bringing a development with the marina – an upscale, high-end luxury resort. That is the thinking. We have to go bigger. We have to scale the thinking because that is where the market is going to be, because that is the only way we can go there and bring in the luxury type of shopping and other things that the market segmentation is demanding,” Ali contended.
In fact, he noted that Guyana is already leading the charge with its Global Biodiversity Alliance (GBA) initiative. Launched in June 2025, this alliance crafted by President Ali seeks to accelerate biodiversity conservation and expanding financing. The second GBA summit will be held in Georgetown at the end of this month, bringing together world leaders and stakeholders.
Another area in which Guyana is demonstrating such bold thinking and leadership, according to the Head of State, is its ambitious bid to secure the hosting rights of the 35th United Nations annual Climate Change meeting, Conference of the Parties (COP35), in 2030 – something which the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is already backing.

Complacency
According to President Ali, there are many more such opportunities Guyana is ready and willing to go after but needs the financial backing of investors and support of organisations like the CTO to push them.
However, he pointed out that the region, including investors, has become complacent with the natural resources within the Caribbean; hence, they do not think about capitalising on the vast opportunities out there.
“Maybe in Guyana, for example, [we can have] the first night safari, tropical forest night safari. The country is willing to put together the land and the scale to have the first world-class night safari, and this is where investors are missing. This is where our investors are too laid-back. They are complacent. They are satisfied with the product that nature has given them, but the future is going to be completely different,” the Guyanese leader emphasised.
To this end, President Ali challenged the CTO and stakeholders at SOTIC to look at the trends in other regions around the world and where the market is and come up with a strategic plan that would ensure the long-term viability and competitiveness of tourism in the Caribbean. However, this, he pointed out, must be done within a set timeframe.
“We need this conference to deliver to the people of the region a vision to 2035, in which CTO places itself central to that vision, connecting to new partnerships and new markets, and integrating into those new partnerships and markets. That is what is important in this critical period of our tourism transformation… And the only way we can succeed is if we challenge ourselves with a time frame and work backwards in putting the systems in place to meet that time frame, because culturally we like to be pressed by time. That’s just reality… We have to be realistic. We are a people in this region; we have a different approach to life, and unless we can find an approach that pushes our traditional approach to life, we will not be able to make the changes,” the Head of State noted.