Twenty-five-year Veteran Nancy Drolet appointed to Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Canadian Post

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the region’s tourism development agency, has appointed experienced travel professional Nancy Drolet as business development representative for Canada.

Ms. Drolet, whose appointment took effect from 1 April, will create and implement a business development plan for the organization for the Canadian market. She will also maintain consistent interaction with the travel industry, Caribbean Diaspora and national tourist office representatives in Canada.

The multilingual Drolet – she speaks English, French and Spanish - is a 25 year veteran of the travel industry, having worked predominantly in sales and marketing for tour operators such as Fiesta Holidays and Thomson Vacations, and Cruise Lines, including Holland America and Windstar Cruises.

After moving to travel retail she worked in senior management positions at Sears Travel, where she managed up to 35 travel agencies.

Ms. Drolet is no stranger to the Caribbean- she worked at Sandals Resorts and Radisson Resorts of the Bahamas.

"I am thrilled to be back working with the Caribbean which has long been a popular vacation destination for Canadians. The Caribbean offers Canadians so much more than sun and sand: the people, the music, the activities on land and sea, the romance of the islands, not to mention the adventure aspect with hiking and untapped natural preserves," the newly-appointed business development representative said.

"I am looking forward to working with our national tourist offices and our tour operator, airline and retail partners in Canada to grow our business to the Caribbean. Through training and education and partnership, I hope to help the travel trade in Canada discover more about the Caribbean," she added.

According to Sylma Brown, director of CTO-USA, Inc., Ms. Drolet’s responsibilities will be varied and will include representing the region at major trade and consumer shows in Canada; developing and organizing niche focused training seminars, webinars and presentations to travel agents; monitoring, coordinating and optimizing market initiatives with major partners; developing a recruitment plan for non-government memberships; organizing multi-destination familiarization tours for select travel agents and tour operators; identifying funding sources and soliciting funding for regional tourism programmes; meeting regularly with national tourist office representatives to share ideas, seek input and better understand their challenges, with a view to addressing them; building and maintaining relationships and promoting the region to the Caribbean Diaspora through the consular corps and by working with national civic groups; assisting with fund-raising activities for the CTO Foundation; and organizing Caribbean Week in Canada. Ms. Drolet can be reached at droletn@caribtourism.com. Tel: 905-857-1986.

Canada, normally a robust market for the Caribbean, recorded a decrease in visitors to the Caribbean last year for the first time since 1994, and only the second contraction since 1982. The 3.3 million arrivals from that market represented a 3.4 per cent drop when compared to 2015.