The BVI Tourist Board is currently accepting applications for the position of Deputy Director of Marketing. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, developing, implementing and managing a series of tourism marketing initiatives. Such initiatives include, but are not limited to, the development of a strategic marketing and public relations program, the establishment of enabling networks within the international tourism industry, the development of alliances with local, regional and international stakeholders, the development of programs which will lend to the sustained exposure of the BVI Tourism Product. In addition, the successful candidate will be responsible for analyzing the effectiveness of sales activities, making improvements where necessary, and conducting market research to determine the feasibility and marketability of new products or features.

Grenada's Kirani James and Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott gained further glory for their countries when they were honoured at the 30th Commonwealth Sports Awards at the weekend.

Conflict resolution is being made a priority for authorities in St Kitts and Nevis with 50 newly certified trainers in anger management to be deployed in communities across the federation.  The innovative programme drew participants came from all walks of life including officers and inmates of Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP), counsellors, psychologists, nurses, emergency medical technicians, faith based organization leaders, and medical students from Windsor University.

Charles Maynard, chairman of the Bahamas main opposition party and a former minister of youth, sports and culture, died suddenly on Tuesday while campaigning for a candidate in a parliamentary election.  The 42-year-old collapsed from an apparent heart attack while riding in a car with another party official in North Abaco after leaving a campaign event, according to a statement released by his Free National Movement (FNM). He was rushed to a clinic, but emergency medical personnel were unable to revive him.

Saint Lucia will host “Elevate Yourself” the 2nd Annual Health & Wellness Retreat, October 4 - 7, 2012. Leading experts, including actress and best-selling author Lindsay Wagner and Today Show nutrition and health expert Joy Bauer, will offer tips and advice during wellness seminars, beachside fitness clinics, healthy cooking demonstrations and even sunrise mediations.

According to IICA, the Caribbean faces an emergency following the spread of the Black Sigatoka which is a leaf spot disease that attacks banana plants, affecting the process of photosynthesis and reducing yields.

Two days after scrapping plans to impose a controversial “community enhancement fee” on foreign workers, Premier McKeeva Bush has announced increased work permit fees and tourism accommodation taxes.  At a public meeting on Wednesday night, Bush said that the increase in work permit fees would bring in an additional $7.6 million for the government in the current financial year.

The St Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee (SKNOC), has responded to track star Kim Collins' claims that he was dropped from the nation’s Olympic squad for visiting his wife.  The 36 year old Collins ranted bitterly via social media about SKNOC officials allegedly barring him from competing in the 100 metre finals after he left the Olympic village to spend time with his wife at her hotel.

The National Hurricane center's latest report indicates that tropical depression 5 has strenthened into the fifth tropical storm of the season.  The 5 p.m. AST advisory indicates Tropical Storm Ernesto was located near 12.8 north 56.6 west or about 295 miles east of the Windward Islands and is moving quickly to the west at 22 MPH. Tropical storm warnings issued for portions of the Lesser Antilles. the NHC said.

Carnival is to the Caribbean as fish are to the sea – one simply cannot exist without the other. In Martinique, the analogy is taken one step further when sports and sea are brought together for a celebration unlike any other, the famed Yawl Boat Race (Tour des Yoles Rondes). A yearly highlight of the Martinican social calendar, the Yawl Boat Race will be contested this year between July 29 and August 5, literally encircling the Isle of Flowers with a boundless spirit of joy, replete with pulsating rhythms, prodigious libations and nonstop parties.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will have to pay $1 million to Ramnaresh Sarwan for “publicly denigrating and humiliating” the Guyanese and Leicestershire middle order batsman. The payment is part of a $1.5 million pay out in damages which the Board incurred recently.

Organizers of a humanitarian aid caravan that uses civil disobedience to challenge the US blockade and travel ban of Cuba were due to cross the US/Mexico border with nearly 100 tons of humanitarian aid on Thursday morning.

The Office of the President in Guyana have stated that a full investigation will be done of the killing of three protesters by police in Linden. Add a comment

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) chairman Dr Kenny Anthony has written to Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne on the "deleterious effect" the controversial United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax continues to wreak on Caribbean economies.  The APD, introduced in 1994, is a British environmental tax aimed at offsetting aviation's carbon footprint. In its initial stage, it was set at £5 (US$7.85) per person. Since then there have been several increases.

A Dubai developer is using St Kitts and Nevis’s economic citizenship programme to finance its new ultra-luxury hotel development.  Range Developments, an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Kiawah Partners, have signed an agreement with the St Kitts and Nevis government to build and operate a Park Hyatt hotel at Christophe Harbour.