Caribbean Week, a seven-day programme celebrating and promoting the Caribbean region as a hospitality and vacation destination, returns to New York City from June 9 to 15 with a full schedule of events. Tourism officials, the media, artists, performers, celebrity chefs, strategic and corporate partners in the travel and hospitality industry will spend seven days in and around New York City (NYC) in meetings and sponsored events, celebrating the sights, sounds, colours, cultural and unique vacation attributes of the Caribbean region. Vacation destination Started in 1973, the annual exercise, a joint venture of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), aims to provide a platform for the sale of the Caribbean region as the ultimate vacation destination. Caribbean Week in New York City also attempts to attract and generate positive media attention for the region, while providing an opportunity for hospitality providers to promote their goods and services to a diverse client base. The week-long event includes a celebrity cricket match; celebrity chefs from world-class Caribbean resorts preparing distinctive dishes at prestigious locations across the city; town hall meetings moderated by Tourism Ministers; a Caribbean Fair at the landmark NYC South Street Seaport; a Caribbean media market-place; and the popular Governments of the Caribbean State Ball at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Friday, June 15, beginning at 7:00 pm. Reprinted from jamaica-gleaner.com