Martinique is set to host next year’s Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) State of the Industry Conference, scheduled to take place during the week starting Oct. 13, 2013.

In her address before the closing of this year’s conference in St. Kitts last week, Karine Roy-Camille, commissioner of the Martinique Tourism Authority, commented that Martinique has been increasing its profile within the CTO and the CTDC (Caribbean Tourism Development Company), becoming a more active and vocal member to the benefit of the country’s promotional efforts, particularly in the U.S. and Canada.

Since two years ago, Roy-Camille said, Martinique has had a new development strategy, ensuring strong cooperation across the broad range of both public and private stakeholders.

“For the first time, travel and tourism interests in Martinique are unified with a single goal,” she said, “to grow Martinique’s tourism industry into the leading driving force of the island’s economy.

“Unity on the home front is a critical component, but so too is unity on a larger, pan-regional level,” she continued. “United with our Caribbean neighbors, all of us are working to grow tourism to the entire region as a whole, and establishing and maintaining closer ties to Caribbean neighbors remain a key element of the plan.”

As a result, Martinique is now also actively involved in the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States).

The theme for this year’s conference, Oct. 11 and 12, was “Developing a Winning Tourism Strategy.”