66 July 2015 - Business View Caribbean
think you’re seeing growth throughout Central America
and I think it’s an emerging market for us. In recent
years, the past 15-20 years, there’s been growth of
resorts along the Central American/Caribbean coast,
so I think that’s an opportunity for all of us to pay at-
tention to.
BV: In terms of ways that you engage your member-
ship – what have been the ones that have had the
most resonance? Have you had multiple events? Do
you put out publications? How do you stay in contact
and what has worked?
VASSER:
That’s something that I’m assessing right
now – how do we communicate better with our mem-
bers. Right now, we put out monthly newsletters, we
send out email blasts all the time and we just need
to make sure we don’t get lost in the clutter, and how
do we make sure what we’re providing is relevant and
people want to see it. We’re working to redesign our
website so members can go in and get a lot of infor-
mation that they need – whether it’s information on
travel statistics, things that they can use when talking
to their own government or associations, information
that perhaps will be great benchmarking opportuni-
ties. If somebody has an issue with local transporta-
tion, they can do a search on our website to find out
who else has faced the same type of situation and how
did they handle it.
Perhaps, think of it as having a collection or library of
studies, where people can access it. I think that’s the
type of information and service that we can best pro-
vide to our members, making it easier for them to find
ways to improve their properties. For them, they want
to improve and make more money, find easier and
less expensive ways to buy product and bring product
down. Those are the types of initiatives that I really
want to start embracing. And, of course, finding ways
to bring partners in, people that want to sell to our ho-
tels, or partner with our hotels, services and products
that they can provide. I want to provide an easier way
for them to get a hold of our members. We’ve got a lot
on our plate right now, but I’m excited about the op-
portunities.
BV: What do see happening in the next couple of
years, next five years – if you can look out that far,
