Travel website Caribbean Journal has named Kenneth Bryan its Caribbean Tourism Minister of the Year in its Caribbean Tourism Awards 2023, released Wednesday.
The annual awards, which the site has held for the last decade, covers tourism news in the region, shining the light on destinations and individuals in the Caribbean.
“The 2023 edition of the CTA celebrates honorees in 21 different categories, highlighting the hotspots, the difference makers and the reasons why we all love the Caribbean so very much, as selected by the CJ editorial staff,” Alexander Britell, editor and publisher of Caribbean Journal said in an article announcing the awards.
Bryan was elected this year as the chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation and has also been leading a number of initiatives to return Cayman’s tourism levels to pre-COVID figures.
He recently oversaw the adding of the new LAX route to Cayman Airways, the first direct route to the US West Coast from the Caribbean.
Bryan, in a statement on the award, said he was “both grateful and humbled”.
“This accolade is the result of the exemplary work and dedication of the team I am privileged to lead in the Ministry and Department of Tourism, who work hard on behalf of the people of the Cayman Islands and to support me as Minister, to enable our tourism industry to do as well as it has done. I greatly appreciate this recognition and will continue doing my very best to lead the Cayman Islands tourism industry to new record-breaking accomplishments,” he added.
In announcing Bryan’s award, the website said, “The Cayman Islands is already nearing its pre-pandemic tourism totals, a rather impressive feat since the destination was one of the final Caribbean destinations to reopen for tourism after the onset of the pandemic. Leading the destination’s rebirth has been Minister Bryan, who skillfully navigated the balance of public health and the economy and deftly led Cayman’s phased reopening process.”
The Journal added that now “Cayman is on the cusp of eclipsing its all-time records in 2023, with a focused, sustainability-minded growth push spearheaded by its top tourism official”.
Among the other awards announced Wednesday was Antigua as Luxury Destination of the Year and the Bahamas’ Lynden Pindling International Airport as Caribbean Airport of the Year.
The Caribbean Journal launched the awards in 2014 “to honour the people, destinations and properties that help make Caribbean travel better”.
The annual ‘best-of-the-best’ roundup looks at the region both from the perspective of the people who travel to the Caribbean and the impact the tourism industry has on this part of the world, a statement from Cayman’s Tourism Ministry said.
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