January 2017 | Business View Caribbean

56 57 which include, primarily, leading tour operators and wholesalers from around the world, for two days of intense appointments for buying, sell- ing, negotiating, making new contacts, and so on.We have an education component layered in that’s very much directed to sales and market- ing kinds of training and support, and this year, we also had 14 ministers or heads of tourism in governments throughout the Caribbean join us. So, that’s the primary event. “We also do an event called CHIEF, the Ca- ribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum, which is very much professional development and education oriented.We started that event last October at the El Conquistador Waldorf Astoria in Puerto Rico and it was very success- ful – the feedback was terrific. In that, we have household names from every kind of company imaginable doing workshops and seminars for our people, and a buying element for our allied mem- bers with a tradeshow component to it.We’ll be repeating that again, this year, in the same loca- tion, the first couple of days in October. “We also do an event called “Taste of the Caribbean.”We’ve been doing that for over 20 years. It’s held in Miami and is a combination of a couple of things, including a competitive culinary event for the chefs.We have chefs from national teams throughout the Caribbean who come together for three days of intense com- petition for the rights of calling themselves the Caribbean Culinary Team of the Year, the Chef of caribbean hotel and tourismassociation the Year, the Pastry Chef of the Year, the Bar- tender of the Year. It follows international stan- dards in judging and there’s a range of awards that are offered.Woven around that event are several other related events, showcasing cu- linary and cultural aspects of the Caribbean. We have education sessions for professional development for chefs, and food and beverage managers, and other personnel in the F & B industry. And we also have a consumer compo- nent, where the public’s invited, called “Taste of the Islands.” It’s a Caribbean tapas event with music and festive atmosphere.We have various countries throughout the Caribbean showcasing some of their best, national dishes. “The fourth signature event that we have is the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit that’s held in Novem- ber. That’s done primarily by a company called HVS and we, along with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, are host sponsors, as well. Those make up the bulk of our major activities and events.” BVM: How else do you communicate with the membership? COMITO: “We communicate with them about four or five times a week.We try to balance it so we don’t overcommunicate, but we have various ways.We do webinars, email, and social media. At our Caribbean Travel Marketplace, we had over nine million social media hits on that