Caribbean tourism official to speak at Conference on Americas

Sustainable tourism and competing through diversity will be the focus of a presentation by the secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization during a conference at Grand Valley State University.

Hugh Riley, who joined the Caribbean Tourism Organization in 2002, will give a presentation March 21, as part of the 13th Conference on the Americas sponsored Grand Valley’s Latin American Studies Program.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization, the region’s tourism development agency, has more than 30 Dutch, English, French and Spanish country members. As the chief executive officer, Riley oversees the organization’s operations in Barbados, North America, United Kingdom and Europe.

The Caribbean: Competing Through Diversity
March 21
9 a.m.
Eberhard Center
301 W. Fulton
Pew Grand Rapids Campus

Riley joined the Caribbean Tourism Organization New York as director of marketing after working in a number of senior tourism positions in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean over a period of 20 years. He is credited with having instituted new air services from North and South America to his native Barbados and the Caribbean, and was responsible for engaging the Caribbean Diaspora and travelers through targeted events in major cities throughout North America. He attended the City University of New York and Thomas Edison State College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and later studied tourism management at the University Of Surrey.  

The event, sponsored by Grand Valley’s Hospitality and Tourism Management Department, is part of a series of events celebrating the 10th anniversary of Grand Valley’s College of Community and Public Service.

For more information, contact Michael Scantlebury, associate professor of hospitality and tourism management, at (616) 331-2705.