From November 12-14, 2010, literary enthusiasts are invited to attend Montserrat ‘s second annual literary festival, the Alliouagana Festival of the Word. With the theme Discovering New Worlds Through Words, the three-day event will bring together acclaimed writers and readers from the Caribbean, North America, United Kingdom and Australia for. Confirmed speakers include award-winning poet and author Kwame Dawes as well as screenwriter and novelist Eric Jerome Dickey.

The Mexico City Ministry of Tourism will welcome the first International Tourism Fair of the Americas, FITA, taking place from Sept. 23 through 26 in the 349,000-square-foot Bancomer Expo Center Santa Fe in Mexico City. FITA 2010 will also coincide with the bicentennial celebration of Mexico’s independence and the centennial celebration of the Mexican Revolution.

WOCCU (World Council of Credit Union), a leading international development agency and the union of credit unions throughout the world, will hold its 2012 conference in Gdansk, Poland.

The World Travel Market (WTM) is expanding its technology seminar program for 2010 with the introduction of a presentation theater on the exhibition floor within the technology and online travel section. It’s the first time a conference venue has been positioned on the World Travel Market exhibition floor in the event’s 31-year history.

Kingston, Jamaica will host the 19th annual Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism conference (CMEx), scheduled for Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, 2010, at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. The conference feature journalists from the Caribbean, North America and Europe and development specialists and representatives of the hospitality, civil society and government sectors, according to conference organizers.

The city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic will host the 17th Annual Exhibition and Conference organized by the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Ship Association (FCCA).

The seventh annual Central American Travel Market (CATM) will take place Oct. 18 to 20, 2010 in Antigua, Guatemala. The trade show and conference will bring tourism boards, hotels, resorts, airlines and ground operators together with international wholesalers and tour operators.

Caribbean and international tourism specialists, policymakers, planners, practitioners, and other persons interested in tourism will meet in Bermuda from April 3-6, 2011 to discuss the sustainability of the Caribbean’s bread and butter sector.

The fourth and largest-ever UNWTO Ministers’ Summit at World Travel Market will, for the first time, conclude with a Statement of Intent outlining the future direction of the travel and tourism industry. The country tourism ministers attending this year’s Nov. 9 summit -- Shaping a Stronger Travel and Tourism Industry; Governance and business models for the future -- will agree on their plan and direction for the industry for the next 12 months.

The Bermuda Department of Tourism (BDOT) announced that multi-Grammy winning performer and producer Ziggy Marley and five-time Grammy award-winning artist Toni Braxton will perform at the 15th Annual Bermuda Music Festival, taking place at the Fairmont Southampton, Sept. 30-October 2, 2010. A number of additional A-list artists, including Angie Stone and Estelle, will also be performing at the annual event.