TCI News
White coats on for 60 students, TCI Clinic Exploration Program sets off for seventh year
#Providenciales, July 7, 2018 – Turks and Caicos – Over 60 students are registered for the seventh installment of the Turks & Caicos Islands 
Clinic Exploration Program which began back in summer 2012; and these students will rotate across various medical practices over the next several weeks.
At the opening ceremony, which was held at the Cheshire Hall Medical Center in Providenciales on Friday, two prevailing words of encouragement were presented to the students: ‘perseverance’ and ‘attentiveness’.
With an infectious excitement, this year’s crop of students collected their lab coats and set off to embark upon this year’s adventurous journey into the world of health care. And the coordinators are as excited to lead them. One told the Magnetic media that he feels ‘like a kid in a candy store’ because “whenever you see that much knowledge together in a room it means that the future is bright.”
The Turks & Caicos Islands Clinic Exploration Program is a partnership between the Ministry of Health, Agriculture and Human Services, InterHealth Canada and various health care providers on Providenciales. Speaking at the opening ceremony was Dr. Jameiko Harvey, who is both the founder and one of the program’s coordinators who encouraged the participants to be like a dry sponge.
“I always tell students that whenever you come to this program and whenever you go out on rotation to go in like a dry sponge. Because you want to soak up all of the knowledge that you’re going to get; all the ways that these individuals treat their patients you’re going to want to soak that up. That’s how you’re going to develop your style of practicing by coming into contact with these individuals.”
Chief of Medical Services, Dr. Denise Braithwaite-Tennant told the students to appreciate the unique chance and admonished the 2018 summer students to take full advantage of the opportunity.
“There are many persons who get this opportunity in many other countries but they have to pay for it. Or that they are competing against so many persons that they don’t get that chance at all.” Dr. Braithwaite-Tennant added, “Getting to be involved at your level in various training opportunities that even us as professional had to wait until we were in tertiary before someone offered us a CPR certification or a food safety certification, or a dissection workshop a lot of times we had to wait until we were in medical school. So these are important and immeasurable opportunities that you have to take advantage of.”
She went on to tell the students to never give up, pointing out that tenacity is the key using as examples: Michael Jordan Oprah Winfrey and Steve Jobs. Dr. Braithwaite-Tennant surmised that these gifted and accomplished professionals faced great adversity in their lives or careers or both but 
persevered and came to dominate their respective fields.
Human Resource Manager for InterHealth Canada, Lorenzo Seymour told the students of other hospital careers, outside of being a medical practitioner. Mr. Seymour reiterated the message of a truly special opportunity for the participants.
“One thing that I’ve always learned is that no matter what, no one can take knowledge away from you. This is something, no matter how much money you’ve got or how famous you are; knowledge will always be with you.”
It is in its seventh year and the program was developed to create awareness of the varied careers available in both the Public and Private Health Sector in the TCI, while also providing adequate and modeled mentorship to students.
The program is set to run from the 6th of July to the 11th of August 2018.
By: Jean Sagesse
Almost two million visitors recorded in 2025
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS – The Turks and Caicos Islands saw an increase in stayover arrivals in December, seven percent higher than the corresponding period in 2024.
Preliminary data suggests that stay over arrivals by air for the month of December was 66,427 in comparison to 62,610 in December 2024.
From January to December 2025, preliminary visitor arrival numbers totalled 640,754; on par with the number recorded for the same period of 2024.
Stay Over Arrivals YTD December 2024/2025
The first quarter of the calendar year attracted the largest number of arrivals with visitor arrivals three percent higher than the first quarter of 2024. Reduced airlift from the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably the Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue services, was however felt from the second quarter (April to June). As a result, visitor arrivals dropped three percent in the second quarter.
By the third quarter of this year (July to September), geopolitical and economic conditions in the key source markets, namely the United States, led to further contraction of arrivals. In the last quarter of 2025, arrivals were impacted in October due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa but additional airlift from the USA and Canada resulted in an increase in arrivals in November and December.
Mr. Paul Pennicook, Interim CEO Consultant of Experience Turks and Caicos, said December’s increase in stayover arrivals is an encouraging indicator of the sustained interest in the Turks and Caicos Islands as a premier destination.
“While we note and continue to monitor geopolitical shifts that affect us, Experience Turks and Caicos is focused on increasing marketing initiatives in our primary source markets. We have spent the last two years investing in groundwork such as crucial travel advisor training to assist them in selling the destination more effectively. In the next fiscal, we will be building on those initiatives with co-op activities with partners as well as out of home advertising to increase visitation to our destination,” he said.
In Cruise, the preliminary count of passenger arrivals for the month of December 2025 was 129,346, a 22 percent increase over last December. This growth follows the berthing of 11 additional ships in Grand Turk this month.
From January to December, the cruise sector continued to outperform the same period last year, as the 1.3 million total cruise passengers recorded, marks a five percent Year-on-Year increase. 
The cruise sector experienced significant growth in the first quarter of 2025, with passenger arrivals surpassing last quarter by 53 percent. In the second and third quarter however, several cruise lines adjusted their itineraries as vessels were pulled from the fleet or from the Caribbean region, which resulted in fewer passengers.
Arrivals dropped seven percent and 10 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively. Double digit growth was recorded in the last two months of Quarter 4. This growth however, was not sufficient to outweigh the drop in arrivals experienced in October, following the cancellation of cruise calls due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Despite the late-quarter rebound, arrivals for the final quarter of 2025 closed six percent below the same period in 2024.
News
The Department of Trade, Industry & Fair Competition to Host Export Readiness Workshop Under the theme “Empowering TCI Businesses for Local Growth and Global Markets.”
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – Wednesday, 11 February 2026: The Informal Settlements Unit (ISU) coordinated a multi-agency enforcement operation on Thursday, 29 January 2026, led by the Planning Department, with support from the Crown Land
Unit, the Turks and Caicos Islands Border Force, and security provided by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. The operation, carried out at three different locations in Providenciales, formed part of ongoing government efforts to address unauthorised development and illegal occupation of land in accordance with governing legislation.
The operation commenced in Blue Hills, where five Section 58 Enforcement Notices were issued on unauthorised structures identified on Block and Parcel 60502/48.
Enforcement activity then moved to a second location off the Leeward Highway near Caicos Lodge, where six Section 58 Enforcement Notices were issued on additional unauthorised structures on Block and Parcel 60802/66.
The final phase of the operation took place in The Bight, where three unauthorised structures were removed, with all debris cleared from the site in keeping with established safety and environmental protocols.
The Informal Settlements Unit remains committed to working alongside its partner agencies to support lawful development, protect public and private land, and ensure that planning regulations are enforced in a coordinated and transparent manner across the Turks and Caicos Islands. Similar joint operations will continue as part of the Government’s wider strategy to address unauthorised development and informal settlement activity.
-
News4 days agoThe Department of Trade, Industry & Fair Competition to Host Export Readiness Workshop Under the theme “Empowering TCI Businesses for Local Growth and Global Markets.”
-
TCI News6 days agoExperience Turks and Caicos and Aquila Host Product Development Workshops to Strengthen Sister Islands Tourism
-
Bahamas News1 day agoTens of Millions Announced – Where is the Development?
-
News3 days agoStrong December Performance Signals Continued Demand for the Turks and Caicos Islands
-
News5 days agoMulti-Agency Planning Enforcement Operation Conducted at multiple locations in Providenciales
-
Bahamas News7 hours agoGroundbreaking for Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre
-
Caribbean News4 days agoMottley Sworn in After Historic Clean Sweep in Barbados Election
-
Health6 hours agoWhat to Look for with Self-Checks at Home