Barbados is the favourite destination for next year’s Institute of Travel & Tourism conference.
The destination will be officially announced at next week’s ITT President’s Dinner and is understood to have won the bidding process against destinations including Palm Springs, California and Qatar.
ITT chairman Steven Freudmann refused to confirm Barbados had been chosen, despite it being talked about as travel’s ‘worst kept secret’ at the recent Abta Travel Convention.
The ITT is already looking at destinations for 2013 and was “constantly” receiving invitations from destinations keen to host the organisation’s annual conference, Freudmann said.
If confirmed, it would be the second time Barbados has hosted the ITT conference. As a rule, the ITT does not return to a previous destination.
Barbados played host to the 2005 ITT conference and was a popular choice of destination. It included high-profile speakers such as former foreign secretary Robin Cook and Glenys Kinnock, and was attended by 380 delegates at the Hilton Barbados (pictured above).
Barbados’s Hilton Hotel appears to be the only venue capable of hosting the ITT event. It can cater for 570 delegates, according to the tourist board’s website. The next largest, Accra Beach Hotel, can cater for just 250 guests.
The Barbados Tourism Authority would not comment on rumours it had been picked to host the 2012 event.
This year’s event was held in Venice at the Hilton Molino Stucky.