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Thought Leaders 2026 Speakers

HE Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali

President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Guyana

Hon. Dr Ernest Hilaire

Deputy Prime Minister, Saint Lucia & Min. for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture & Information

Hon Susan Rodrigues

Minister of Tourism, Industry & Commerce, Guyana

Hon Peter R. Ramsaroop

MP & Chief Investment Officer, Office of the President, Guyana

Kamrul Baksh

Director, Guyana Tourism Authority

Ramesh Ghir

CEO, Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Guyana

Hon. Ian Gooding-Edghill

Minister of Tourism & International Transport, Barbados

Andrea Franklin

Chair, CTO Board of Directors & CEO, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

Dona Regis-Prosper

Secretary General & CEO, Caribbean Tourism Organization

Dr. Armstrong Alexis

Deputy Secretary-General, CARICOM Secretariat

Hon. Cardigan Adolphus Connor

Minister of Health, Sports & Tourism, Anguilla

Hon. Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez

Min. of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Transportation & Investment, Antigua & Barbuda

Hon. Edmund Bartlett

Minister of Tourism, Jamaica

Hon. Zhavargo Jolly

Minister of Tourism, Turks & Caicos Islands

Hon. Luce Hodge-Smith

Junior Minister, Tourism and Culture, British Virgin Islands

Colin James

CEO, Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority

Nicole Solano

CEO, Ministry of Tourism, Youth, Sports & Diaspora Relations, Belize

Jan Hutton

CEO, Bermuda Tourism Authority

Donovan White

Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board

Aïda Weinum

Aïda Weinum, Director of Tourism, Saint-Martin

Trevor Sadler

CEO, interCaribbean Airways

Ivan Alonzo Gaviria

Chief Operations Officer, in Country Office Guyana, Inter-American Development Bank

Roberto Duran-Fernandez

Sector Lead Specialist, Productivity, Trade & Innovation Sector, Inter-American Development Bank

Tenisha Brown

Senior Tourism Specialist, Trade & Investment Division, Inter-American Development Bank

Franz Müller

Regional V.P., Destinations, Amadeus

Olivier Ponti

Director of Market Intelligence & Insights, Amadeus

Luis Millan

Head, Travel Intelligence SC, Amadeus

Marie S. McKenzie

Senior V.P., Government & Destination Affairs, Carnival Corporation & plc

Lee Lipton

Senior V.P., Aviation Strategy, ASM

Jonathon Freye

Executive Director, Association of Value Airlines

Roy Bassoo

Director, Cardinal Investment Inc., Guyana

John Edghill

Senior Director of Investment, Guyana

Andres Botero Toro

Director, Caribbean Green Building, Guyana

Dr. Rafael Echevarne

Director General, Airports Council International – Latin America and the Caribbean (ACI-LAC)

Heitor Kadri

Director, Regional Office for the Americas, UN Tourism

Michele Paige

CEO, Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA)

Allister Glean

International Specialist, Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Neil Walters

Director of Finance, Caribbean Tourism Organization

Sharon Banfield-Bovell

Director, Resource Mobilization & Development, Caribbean Tourism Organization

Vanessa Ledesma

CEO & Dir. Gen., Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), Acting

Aliyyah Shakeer

Director of Research, Caribbean Tourism Organization

Uriel Torres

Director, SITA, Latin America North & Caribbean

Charmaine Spencer

Chief Marketing Officer, Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority

Melissa Noel

Founder & Chief Content Officer, Mel&N Media Group | Conference Host

Laura Dowrich

Public Relations Manager, Turks and Caicos Islands Tourism Authority

Norris Clement

Deputy Director, Professional Services, Caribbean Tourism Organization

Dr. Acolla Cameron

Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the West Indies (UWI), Trinidad.

Dr. Malou C. Harrison

Exec. V.P. & Provost, Miami Dade College

Hon. Sarah Browne-Shadeek

Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Guyana

Dr Sherma Roberts

Senior Lecturer, Tourism & Deputy Dir., Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business & Management, UWI, Cave Hill Campus

Hon. Yvonne Fredericks-Pearson

Advisor, Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Guyana

Beverley Wilson

Deputy Director, Research, Caribbean Tourism Organization

Micah Davis

Toushao, Toka Village, Guyana

Dr. Maya Trotz

Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida

Shaun McGrath

CEO & Owner, Cara Hotels

Dr. Aletha Connelly

Asst. Dean | Lecturer II, School of Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation, University of Guyana

Brooke Meyer

Certified Hospitality Educator, Iowa State University

Beth Hatt

Founder, Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence

Dionne Ligoure

V.P., Corporate Communications & Corporate Affairs, Massy Group

Jacqueline Johnson

CTC, President/CEO, Global Bridal Group/MarryCaribbean.com

Kevon Wilson

Chief Operating Officer & Senior Strategist, Leve Global

Michael Patterson

Tourism & Asst. Operations Manager, Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation & Development

Casey Davy

CEO, Breeze Travel Solutions

Nneka A. Nurse

Founder & CEO, Best Dressed Plate LLC

Ambra Attus

Director, Impact, Growth & Development, Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence

Mariko Wallen

Secretary, Placencia Tour Guide Association

Taraneh Azimi

Business Development & Marketing Manager, Caribbean Tourism Organization

John Quail

Co-owner & Director, Springboard Caribbean & Springboard Leadership Development Ltd

Eldon Marks

Serial AI Entrepreneur | Innovator | Founder & CEO, V75 Inc.

Correy Mitchell

Temp. Lecturer, Management Science, Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business & Management, UWI, Cave Hill Campus

Irwine G. Clare

Co-Founder & Managing Director, Caribbean Immigrant Services, Inc.

Nicolas Scott

Technical Assistant, Resource Mobilization & Development, Caribbean Tourism Organization

Ryan Bachoo

Award-winning Multimedia Journalist

Jolé St John

2025 Junior Minister of Tourism, Tobago

Ron Fanfair

Publisher, RonFanFair.com