Get ready for tanning season

Last week, my big task was to work on our printer and make test prints on dozens of different paper types. Then I met up with Nasim over the weekend, and we narrowed it down to just a few of our favorites. What do you look for in a paper? The brightness of the highlights, the depth of the blacks, the surface texture, the warmth or coolness? I probably spent more time thinking about that last week than the rest of my life combined! I still need to make some more test prints, but things are progressing quickly. Meanwhile, as I tested different papers, a few things happened in the greater photography world that you might want to know about.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Sustainable Tourism Conference wrapped up on a high note last week in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, bringing together tourism leaders from across the region and beyond under the theme “Tourism in Full Color: Integrating Blue, Green, Orange and Beyond Economies into Sustainable Planning and Development.”

Hosted by the Belize Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism, Youth, Sports and Diaspora Relations, the conference provided a dynamic platform for dialogue, innovation and collaboration.

As the Caribbean prepares for a busy spring and summer tourism calendar, Colin James, Chief Executive Officer of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, says the destination is in advanced stages of readiness to host and capitalize on back-to-back editions of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Caribbean Travel Marketplace, May 12-15, at the American University of Antigua.

Speaking with the Caribbean Tourism Authority, James emphasized the coordinated national effort behind the preparations, noting that public and private sector teams have been working closely to deliver a seamless and impactful experience. Planning spans all aspects of the event, from the structure of the business-to-business meetings to curated opening and closing events designed to showcase the destination. Beyond facilitating commercial exchanges between buyers and suppliers, the strategy includes immersing visiting media, tour operators and MICE planners in the Antigua and Barbuda experience to strengthen their ability to promote the destination globally.