BRIDGETOWN – Barbados will host the 45th edition of the Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM) in May 2027, bringing one of the Caribbean tourism industry’s most important business events to the island. According to the official Caribbean Travel Marketplace website, the event is scheduled for May 18 to 21, 2027.
The annual event, organized by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), is considered the Caribbean’s leading business-to-business tourism marketplace. It connects hotels, resorts, tourism boards, airlines, tour operators, wholesalers, travel advisors, and hospitality suppliers from across the region with international buyers from key tourism markets.
Caribbean Travel Marketplace rotates between Caribbean destinations and serves as a central platform where tourism businesses negotiate contracts, build partnerships, market destinations, and secure future business for the region.
The 2026 edition is currently scheduled to take place in Antigua and Barbuda from May 12 to 15, while Barbados has now been announced as the next host destination for 2027.
For Curaçao, the event presents an important opportunity for local hospitality businesses, hotels, attractions, restaurants, tour operators, and tourism-related service providers to strengthen their international visibility and secure direct business relationships with global travel buyers.
Industry experts throughout the Caribbean increasingly view participation in Caribbean Travel Marketplace as essential because tourism competition between destinations continues to intensify. The event allows businesses to conduct multiple face-to-face meetings with international travel partners in just a few days, something that would otherwise require expensive overseas marketing trips.
The Marketplace has also evolved beyond traditional hotel promotion. Recent editions now place greater emphasis on broader economic linkages, including local food production, manufacturing, culture, and creative industries connected to tourism.
The upcoming Barbados edition could therefore provide valuable opportunities not only for Curaçao hotels and resorts, but also for local restaurants, cultural businesses, transport providers, excursion companies, and other tourism suppliers seeking international exposure.
As Curaçao continues to experience record tourism growth and expanding airlift, broader participation from the island’s hospitality sector at regional tourism trade events may become increasingly important to maintain competitiveness within the Caribbean tourism market.
Tourism remains one of Curaçao’s most important economic pillars, and participation in regional marketplaces such as CTM is widely viewed as an important tool for attracting new visitors, strengthening international partnerships, and promoting the island as a destination in an increasingly competitive Caribbean tourism environment.