Stacey Liburd, Anguilla Tourist Board’s director of tourism, along with Verna Rogers, events manager at Belmond Cap Juluca, attended the Caribbean & Mexico Meeting and Incentive Travel Exchange (CMITE) in Montego Bay, Jamaica August 21–23, 2023. Organized by Questex Media in partnership with the Jamaica Tourist Board and Secrets Wild Orchid Montego Bay resort, the event convened North American meeting and incentive buyers from corporate direct, incentive houses and meeting/event management companies with Caribbean and Mexico-based travel suppliers for two and a half days of networking that included up to 20 one-to-one private appointments, cultural activities and educational opportunities.
The issues discussed included the importance of factors such as DEI and sustainability to decision makers, whether destinations should be wary of, or embrace, new technology such as AI, and their predictions for the industry in 2024. Liburd was uniquely positioned to address the issue of AI, given Anguilla’s singular position in this space: Anguilla’s websites end with the domain “.ai,” as assigned by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Since the 1990s, Anguilla has overseen assigning internet addresses that end in “.ai” to residents and businesses looking to register websites, meaning anyone looking to use the domain for their company pays the island territory for the right. The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 sparked a significant spike in “.ai” domains, and the island now estimates it will earn between $25 million and $30 million for the year.
For more information, visit www.ivisitanguilla.com.
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