Business View Caribbean - July 2016 55
“About ten years ago, the Caribbean Hotel Association
changed its name to the Caribbean Hotel and Tour-
ism Association, in recognition of the broad reach that
tourism has on the economies of the Caribbean. Over
the years, we’ve also established a few related orga-
nizations and institutions, including the CHTA Educa-
tion Foundation, which has awarded over $5 million
worth of scholarships to the region’s residents and
has played an integral part in human resource devel-
opment. We also established a group called the Ca-
ribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives, which
is geared towards supporting the professional devel-
opment and the coordination amongst the various
national hotel association executives – information
sharing, best practices, and strengthening the two-way
links between the national hotel and tourism associa-
tions and CHTA. We also had a spin-off organization
called the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism
in the late 1990s, which focuses primarily on encour-
aging sustainable tourism practices. It’s the umbrella
for energy efficiency projects that we’ve done, energy
efficiency policies that we’ve advanced, best practices
on environmental standards, and so on.”
Can you elaborate on the Association’s advocacy re-
sponsibilities and activities?
“It’s an ongoing challenge to make sure that our poli-
cies regionally, as well as in individual countries, are
conducive to advancing the growth, development,
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Associa-
tion
WHAT:
Serving and representing the hotel and
tourism industry in the Caribbean region
WHERE:
Coral Gables, Florida, USA
WEBSITE
:
