The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has announced a landmark new initiative to bridge academic research, public policy, and on-the-ground tourism practice: the first-ever Caribbean Tourism Research Forum, set to debut alongside the 2026 State of the Tourism Industry Conference (SOTIC) in Guyana. Slated for October 6, 2026, the three-hour opening forum will align with SOTIC 2026’s overarching theme “Tourism Futures: Smart, Sustainable, and Inclusive,” creating a dedicated collaborative space for stakeholders across the regional tourism ecosystem.
Unlike rigid traditional academic conferences, the forum is designed as an interactive, solution-focused platform that brings together a diverse cross-section of participants: active researchers, university leadership, practicing tourism industry professionals, destination management officials, international development partners, and graduate and undergraduate students. The structured programming splits into two focused showcase segments to highlight both emerging academic work and real-world applied research.
The first segment, “Emerging Research from Caribbean Universities,” will shine a spotlight on new and ongoing studies led by regional academic institutions, elevating homegrown expertise that is often overlooked in global tourism discourse. The second segment, “Research in Practice: Applied and Destination Insights,” will center actionable research that directly addresses core challenges in tourism policy, destination planning, market analysis, and day-to-day destination management.
A wide range of pressing, industry-relevant topics will be covered across presentations, including shifting global visitor travel patterns, advanced tourism demand forecasting, climate-resilient tourism development, community-owned tourism models, workforce upskilling and development, the integration of artificial intelligence into tourism operations, digital transformation for small and medium-sized tourism businesses, regional destination competitiveness, and measuring the distributional economic impact of tourism across local communities.
Aliyyah Shakeer, CTO’s Director of Research, emphasized that the forum fills a longstanding gap in regional tourism governance. “For too long, there has been a disconnect between the valuable research produced by academic institutions and the decision-making processes that shape tourism development across the Caribbean,” Shakeer explained. “This initiative is built to strengthen the critical connections between research, policy, and industry, ensuring that all regional tourism development efforts are guided by rigorous, reliable evidence and practical, locally rooted solutions.”
Per event rules, each presentation will be capped at 10 minutes to keep discussions dynamic, followed by structured moderated Q&A sessions that allow for audience engagement. The forum will conclude with a plenary conversation focused on expanding long-term collaborative frameworks between academic institutions and private and public sector tourism stakeholders across the Caribbean.
For registered SOTIC 2026 delegates, participation in the research forum will be offered at no additional cost. The CTO is currently accepting presentation nominations from Caribbean universities, accredited regional research institutions, the existing Caribbean Tourism Research Network, and CTO member countries. All nomination submissions must be completed through the CTO’s official online portal by the deadline of Sunday, August 23, 2026.