Turks and Caicos Eliminates Tourism Board in Favor of DMO

Turks and Caicos is doing away with the TCI Tourist Board and replacing it with a destination management organization.

The Ministry of Tourism for Turks and Caicos officially launched the new DMO— Experience Turks and Caicos—last month. The TCI Tourist Board will stop operating as of June 30, according to Loop News.

Josephine Connolly, minister of tourism for Turks and Caicos, addressed the shake-up recently when speaking at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Travel marketplace in Barbados. Connolly said the new entity will be a non-profit organization and the marketing and management of Turks and Caicos will now take the form of a public-private partnership.

The founding members of the partnership include the hotel association, Chamber of Commerce, airports, ports authority and InvestTC, according to Loop News.

Experience Turks and Caicos is expected to employ about 24 people during its first year of operation and eventually grow to about 47 staff members. The new DMO will also include a Tourism Intelligence Unit whose goal will be helping develop marketing strategies. There will also be a Product Development Unit focused on creating more authentic tourism experiences.

Stakeholders will also have a role to play, Connolly explained. They will be included in the decision-making process. The new approach to marketing the destination will allow for more effective promotion of all the islands and cays that make up Turks and Caicos. In the past, most of the focus has been on Providenciales.

Turks and Caicos includes 40 different islands and cays, but only eight are inhabited. Providenciales is the most well known of the Turks and Caicos Islands and is the center of the tourism industry.

Additional popular islands include Grand Turk and Salt Cay, both of which offer a glimpse into the destination’s Caribbean history and Bermudian architecture. Grand Turk is also home to a brand new cruise ship center.

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