Anguilla will host the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s first Sports Tourism Summit from August 12 to 14, 2027, the CTO confirmed at its State of the Tourism Industry Conference in Georgetown, Guyana. The three-day event is expected to draw tourism leaders, athletes, sports organisations, event organisers, destination marketers and private-sector partners from around the region.
For golfers, the choice of host shines a light on one of the Caribbean’s smaller golf destinations. Anguilla’s flagship course is the 18-hole Greg Norman design at Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club, which island officials count, along with its tennis tradition, as a core part of the sports offer. Aurora is also one of 18 nominees for Caribbean’s Best Golf Course at the 2026 World Golf Awards, where voting has now closed.
“Sports is one of the most powerful connectors we have in the Caribbean,” said Dona Regis-Prosper, the CTO’s secretary-general and CEO. She argued that sports tourism’s potential deserves more attention across the region and said the summit will give destinations a forum to exchange ideas.
Cardigan Connor, Anguilla’s minister of health, tourism and sports and a former first-class cricketer, pointed to the island’s golf and tennis facilities as well as the training, scholarship and career opportunities that sport can create. “Having spent much of my life in sports, I have seen firsthand the doors it can open,” he said. Jameel Rochester, director of tourism at the Anguilla Tourist Board, said sports tourism should connect visitors with the island’s restaurants, beaches, culture and people.
The summit lands as sports travel gains ground in the region, from the PGA Tour’s Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic to the Bahamas Bowl college football game in Nassau. Anguilla itself set stayover records in every month of the first half of 2026, welcoming nearly 82,000 overnight visitors. The CTO says the venue, programme, speakers and registration details will be announced later.
Featured image: The former CuisinArt resort on Rendezvous Bay, Anguilla, now Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club, pictured in 2009. Photo by therealaxalady, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.