Rethinking Caribbean Tourism: Building a Sustainable, Inclusive, and Resilient Future

Lilia Burunciuc is the World Bank’s Division Director for the Caribbean. Ms. Burunciuc, a Moldovan national, is responsible for maintaining the partnership with the countries to address their development challenges.

Since joining the World Bank in 1996, she held a range of increasingly challenging positions: Director for Central Asia; Manager in Operations Policy and Country Services; Country Manager for Macedonia; Country Program Coordinator for Southern Africa and Central Asia; and Senior Country Officer for Ukraine and Belarus. 

She has extensive experience on leading policy dialogue with governments on various aspects of development. 

Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. Burunciuc was a Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Moldova, the country’s central bank.  

She has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from George Washington University (USA) and a Master’s level degree in Economics, Management and Planning from the Technical University of Moldova.

Yira Mascaró is a World Bank Practice Manager for the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. From 2016- end 2020, she was the manager of the global team leading on financial stability and integrity, which engages with standard setters and the IMF. She works with policymakers and partners (e.g., IMF, IADB) to help countries build stable, efficient, and inclusive financial systems and a stronger private sector that can leverage economic growth and job creation. 

She is a macrofinancial economist with experience across LAC, Africa, and Europe and Central Asia. Yira received her Ph.D. and Masters’ degrees from the Ohio State University, focusing on economics, development economics and the role of the financial sector, and got her Licentiate degree in economics from the PUCMM in the Dominican Republic, her home country, focusing on international trade.

Monica Parra Torrado is a Senior Economist in the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank.

She leads the dialogue on productivity, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, women-led entrepreneurship, science, technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, tourism, and climate action in Colombia, as well as investment projects on tourism and innovation in Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. She also serves as the regional focal point for gender, migration, tourism, jobs, productivity, skills, innovation, and greening of SMEs.

Prior to this role, Monica worked in Argentina, Brazil, China, Mongolia, and the Philippines, focusing on labor migration, youth unemployment, training, and socioemotional skills. She began her World Bank career through the Young Professionals Program in 2006.

Before joining the World Bank, Monica was a senior researcher at Fedesarrollo, Colombia, working on innovation, productivity, labor economics, and impact evaluations, and served as Editor of Coyuntura Económica and Secretary of LACEA. She also served in the public sector as Coordinator of Colombia’s National Council for Economic and Social Policy (CONPES).

She holds a PhD in Economics from Boston University and both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

Mr. David Dobson, JP is the Chief Technical Director at the Ministry of Tourism in Jamaica.

Mr. Dobson is responsible for providing critical oversight in the formulation and introduction of a range of policies and programmes that are currently shaping and benefitting Jamaica’s tourism industry.

Since joining the Ministry of Tourism in 2014, he has played a key role in senior management, technical coordination, and policy development. He has a proven track record in leadership and is particularly passionate about the development of Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) as well as Community-based Tourism Enterprises, ensuring they are fully integrated into Jamaica’s tourism value-chain and empowering communities to benefit from tourism development.

He is also a strong proponent of data-driven decision-making and is leading the Ministry’s implementation of key initiatives, including the Destination Assurance Framework and Strategy, the Data Governance Framework, and the Measurement of Sustainable Tourism.

Mr. Dobson is a member of the Board of Directors of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Jamaica’s Air Policy Committee, and The National Quality Council.

Nicola Madden-Greig, MBA (Dist), BSc. (Hons.), OD is the Group Director of Marketing & Sales at The Courtleigh Hospitality Group in Jamaica.

She has over twenty years of experience in the hospitality industry, having worked across various sub-sectors including airlines, cruise lines, attractions, and hotels.

Mrs. Madden-Greig holds a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management (Honours) from Florida International University and an Executive MBA (Distinction) from the University of the West Indies (Mona School of Business).

She is the immediate past President of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourist Association (2021–2024) and a two-time past President of the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association. She currently sits on the boards of the Jamaica Tourist Board, the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, the Montego Bay Convention Centre, and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, among others.

Mrs. Madden-Greig has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Order of Distinction from the Government of Jamaica in 2021 and the CMEX Award for Excellence in Caribbean Tourism in 2023.

Veronica, a Colombian national, is an economist with over 20 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. After working in Colombia’s Ministry of Finance as Director of Fiscal Policy, she was made a partner in an economic consultancy firm, where she advised numerous private sector firms in the financial and real economy sectors. She was also an advisor on macroeconomics and fiscal policy in the international financial sector with the New York-based firm Global Source, and an expert economic witness in international litigation processes. She has worked in private sector development over the past 15 years, working closely with the manufacturing and agribusiness industries. Veronica joined IFC in 2017 and until 2024 led the sector analytics team in the Economics VPU.

She is currently the Upstream and Advisory Manager MAS for LAC  overseeing IFC’s pre-investment and advisory projects in Manufacturing, Agribusiness, Tourism, Retail, Health and Education.  In this role she works with private sector clients, designing interventions that prepare them to receive private capital, or co-developing projects. She also works closely with WB colleagues in identifying opportunities for private sector investment as well as policy reform constraints that, if addressed could unlock private sector participation. 

Veronica holds an MSc in Economics and Public Financial Policy from the London School of Economics and an MA in Public Policy Management from Georgetown University.