Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) brings beachfront to the City.

The Caribbean makes a splash in the city today (Wednesday) when the New York Film Academy Cafe, 51 Astor Place, becomes a beachfront playground in the East Village, offering a taste of all things “Hecho en el Caribe” (“Made in the Caribbean”).
   
“A bit of the Caribbean is on display in New York this week (June 7-12) to showcase all things ‘Hecho en el Caribe,’ or ‘Made in the Caribbean,’ and to underscore the message that Hispanics who are born in, or who are of Caribbean descent, share a dual identity: they are Caribenos,” said Sylma Brown Bramble, the CTO’s acting director of marketing for the Americas.
   
With this push into the Hispanic market, the CTO seeks to establish and ultimately entrench itself as the must-go warm weather vacation destination for Hispanics. “The opportunities exist for Hispanics to return to their native Caribbean countries or to visit and connect with Caribbean destinations that hold the histories to their cultural backgrounds and heritages,” Brown Bramble noted.
   
The “Hecho en el Caribe” beach party is one of several public events the CTO is hosting during Caribbean Week in New York, June 6-12. The event, which promises beach fun, sun and sand, is aimed at Hispanics who are Caribbean-born or descendants of those who are from countries and islands including Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, among others.
   
Beach party goers can expect to find the New York Film Academy Cafe to be transformed into a mini resort space featuring inviting hammocks; an outdoor day bed for after work sunbathing and lounging; and swimwear-clad brand ambassadors ready for either an impromptu volleyball match or to provide a one-on-one primer on any one of the CTO’s 33 destinations in the Caribbean.
   
The tagline, “Hecho en el Caribe,” was created with an eye towards starting a movement that goes beyond origin to signify and embody a way of life and a code that unifies all those who call themselves Caribbean.