TCHTA Enters a Season of Action with a Packed Calendar of Events
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BEGINS
TCHTA Enters a Season of Action with a Packed Calendar of Signature Events
Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands – Building on a strong and purposeful start to 2026, the Turks & Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA) is entering one of its most active periods of the year, defined by visibility, advocacy, and a reaffirmation of this destination’s standing as one of the Caribbean’s premier tourism offerings. With a series of activities spanning the coming weeks, from the development of future industry leaders to regional trade participation and celebrations of culinary and hospitality talent, the Association is moving forward with clear intent.
The timing is deliberate. Turks and Caicos welcomed a record two million visitors in 2025, with January 2026 arrivals already tracking two percent ahead of the same period last year. The destination has also recorded a 40 percent reduction in violent crime over the past year, reinforcing what those who know these islands have always understood; Turks and Caicos is not only extraordinarily beautiful, but safe, welcoming, and worthy of its global reputation.
The activity gets underway later this month with the relaunch of the TCHTA Young Leaders Forum (YLF). On April 28, the Association will formally induct its newest cohort of 18 young hospitality professionals, marking the revival of a programme designed to develop the next generation of industry leaders in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The induction ceremony signals the TCHTA’s continued investment not just in the destination’s present, but in its future.
From there, the Association’s attention turns to the regional stage, with its delegation heading to the CHTA Caribbean Travel Marketplace, taking place May 12–15 in Antigua and Barbuda. Now in its 44th year, the Marketplace is the largest tourism trade forum in the region, bringing together Caribbean suppliers and global buyers for pre-scheduled business appointments, networking, and industry sessions. TCHTA members attending represent the destination on a platform where relationships are built, partnerships are forged, and bookings begin, signalling that Turks and Caicos is competitive and ready for business.
Perhaps the most significant moment ahead is the return of the Premier’s Road Show, a destination marketing mission in which TCHTA members will join the Honourable Premier C. Washington Misick on visits to New York, Dallas, Denver, and Chicago, alongside Experience Turks & Caicos. Last undertaken in 2015, the Road Show takes the Turks and Caicos story directly to the travel trade and consumer markets that matter most to the destination’s visitor economy. All four cities rank among the islands’ key source and target markets, and the private sector standing alongside the Premier in these cities sends a clear message that TCI is unified, confident, and actively competing for its share of the world’s most discerning travellers.
Back home, the TCHTA’s investment in hospitality talent takes centre stage with the Annual Bartender Clinic and Competition, running May 25–29. The clinic on May 25 and 26 offers focused professional development and hands-on skills training, with semi-finals and finals running May 27 through 29. The winner earns a place on the national culinary team and will represent the Turks and Caicos Islands at CHTA’s Taste of the Caribbean later this year, vying for the title of Bartender of the Year.
On May 30, the TCHTA’s signature fundraiser Taste of Tapas takes place at The Shore Club. The event brings together the top restaurants in the destination for an evening of culinary celebration while raising funds for the national culinary team’s training and travel for competitions. This year, Taste of Tapas introduces a live Bartender Battle between Jamaal Bowen and Marv “Mr. Mix” Cunningham, two industry heavyweights who have both served as judges at CHTA’s Taste of the Caribbean.
The Association’s Annual General Meeting on May 28 rounds out the schedule, with the TCHTA President and Committee Chairs presenting year-in-review reports to members and stakeholders.
“Every item on this calendar is a reflection of what the TCHTA stands for,” said TCHTA Chief Executive Officer Stacy Cox. “Whether we are at the table in Antigua, on the ground in New York and Miami with the Premier, celebrating our culinary talent at Taste of Tapas, or developing the next Bartender of the Year, it is all aimed toward a more visible, more competitive Turks and Caicos. This destination has a remarkable story to tell, and we intend to tell it well.”
With record visitor numbers, a safer destination, and a private sector that is engaged, organised, and moving forward, Turks and Caicos enters this season from a position of strength. The TCHTA remains committed to ensuring that the quality, warmth, and excellence that define these islands remain at the forefront of the global conversation about Caribbean travel.
ENDS
About the Turks & Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA)
The Turks & Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association represents a wide range of members from resorts and villas to insurance companies and financial service providers, watersports operators, catering outlets, taxi drivers, artisans, and sundry tourism service providers. The Association aims to assist organisations through networking opportunities, training, promotional activities, and representation at all levels of decision-making in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the region. Through involvement and cooperation with our tourism partners, the TCHTA is dedicated to the achievement of sustainable growth in tourism for the benefit of its members and the wider community, while protecting and enhancing the unique character and environment of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
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