Caribbean News
Turks and Caicos Islands Voted #3 Island in The Caribbean and The Atlantic by Condé Nast Traveler’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards
#TurksandCaicos, October 18, 2022 – Condé Nast Traveler recently released the results of its annual Readers’ Choice Awards with the Turks and Caicos Islands being voted the #3 Island in The Caribbean and The Atlantic with a rating of 87.98 – only 2.47 behind this year’s winner.
Over 240,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers rated their travel experiences across the globe to create a complete picture of the places they enjoyed visiting the most this year and are most looking forward to returning to. Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards are one of the longest-running and one of the most prestigious recognitions of excellence in the travel industry.
“We are delighted to have been recognized by Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards as the #3 Island in The Caribbean and The Atlantic as this displays that visitors to our islands believe that we are amongst the best of the best”, said Minister of Tourism, Hon. Josephine Connolly. “We look forward to further developing our tourism product to strive for the coveted title of #1 Island in The Caribbean and The Atlantic”, added Hon. Connolly.
“2022 has been incredible for the Turks and Caicos Islands’ tourism industry and the latest acknowledgement from
Condé Nast Traveler adds to our country’s growing list of impressive achievements for the year”, said Acting Director of Tourism, Mary Lightbourne. “A huge thank you goes to all of our tourism stakeholders for being the catalyst behind TCI’s tourism industry rebounding so strongly”, added Lightbourne.
The recognition from Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards is a continuation of the success that the Turks and Caicos Islands’ tourism industry has achieved thus far in 2022. Q1 of 2019 was one of the best quarters for tourism in the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands and preliminary data showcases that in Q1 of 2022, the Turks and Caicos Islands welcomed 98.5% of the amount of stayover visitors as it did in Q1 of 2019 – indicating the TCI’s tourism industry is continuing to recover strongly.
Tripadvisor then declared the Turks and Caicos Islands as the World’s Hottest Travel Destination for Fall 2022, based on behavioural data and a consumer sentiment survey. Their report showed the Turks and Caicos Islands possessing the fastest growing demand based on year-over-year growth. The Turks and Caicos Islands beat out well-established and better-resourced tourism veterans, such as London, Amalfi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok for the Number 1 spot – and shone as the sole representation of the Caribbean in the Top 15 of Tripadvisor’s list.
Most recently, the World Travel Awards announced that the Turks and Caicos Islands is a nominee for three of their awards – World’s Most Romantic Destination, World’s Leading Island Destination, as well as World’s Leading Beach Destination. Like the Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, the World Travel Awards are also an extremely esteemed recognition of excellence in the travel industry.
The World Travel Awards Grand Final Ceremony will be held on Friday, November 11, 2022 at Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Votes can be cast for the Turks and Caicos Islands for the three World Travel Awards at www.worldtravelawards.com/vote.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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