Sept / Oct 2016 | Business View Caribbean

42 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - September 2016 43 The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Serving and representing the hotel and tourism industry in the Caribbean region Recently, Business View Magazine talked with Frank Comito, the CEO and Director General of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). The following is a transcript of a wide-ranging discussion that touched on many issues and activities in which the Association is engaged: BVM: Can you give me some background on the his- tory of the Association and how it may have changed and grown over the years? “The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association was originally called the Caribbean Hotel Association. It was founded in 1962, as part of a federation of na- tional hotel and tourism associations in the region at that time. And we continue, to this day, being a fed- eration of 32 national hotel and tourism associations with all of our respective memberships drawing from that number, as well as individual members we garner from international sources. It was founded, originally, to help market the industry and to work collaboratively on issues that affect its ability to drum up business. So a lot of its emphasis, in the early stages, was on marketing. But as time evolved, in the late ‘70s, ‘80s, and early ‘90s, its mission expanded into other areas, in particular: advocacy, research and information dis- semination, workforce development, and overall prod- uct development. And that expanded mission contin- ues to today. “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 : www.caribbeanhotelassociation.com