Tourism head Rosa Harris receives top award

Rosa Harris has been named Director of Tourism of the Year at the annual Women in Caribbean Tourism Awards in New York.

The awards, part of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s Caribbean Week, held 1-5 June, recognises the work done by women in tourism across the Caribbean and beyond.

In a statement on social media, Cayman’s Department of Tourism said, “These awards recognise the crucial contributions of women in tourism in the Caribbean region and beyond, and her recognition is a testament to the director’s visionary leadership and championing of women at all levels of tourism.”

The Director of Tourism of the Year award is voted for by a jury of tourism directors and recognised Harris’ work in Caribbean tourism as the immediate past chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s board of directors.

In a message on LinkedIn, Harris thanked those who voted for her and commented, “There are very few times I’m taken by surprise and last night was one of them.”

She added: “I’m grateful for the opportunities afforded to me, the colleagues I’ve met along the way and lessons learned … I dedicate this award to the women in tourism who show up everyday and give their very best.”

During her chairmanship, said a statement from the tourism department, Harris was instrumental in championing women in tourism and placing female leadership at the forefront of the organisation with the hiring of Donna Regis-Prosper, the first-ever female Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation. She also led the transformation of the organisation through its ‘Reimagine’ initiative which aimed at creating a strong tourism future for the region.

Harris has served as director of tourism for the past 12 years and in a recent conference described how she worked to promote the islands’ “understated, casual, barefoot luxury”.

Over the years, Harris, said the department, has played a “pivotal role in shaping the Cayman Islands’ global tourism strategy” and that during her leadership, the Cayman Islands achieved its best-ever year for stayover arrivals in 2019, a milestone that “underscored her ability to innovate and elevate the destination’s appeal to travellers worldwide”.

Last month, the department launched its 2025 summer tourism campaign, ‘Caution: Book Responsibly’, to encourage part of a broader strategy to compete for high-value travellers during the peak summer season.