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46 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean
Business View Caribbean - September 2016 47
mas and had over a thousand participants. That’s the
region’s premier gathering to do business. We bring
suppliers– suppliers being the hotels throughout the
region, some of the local tour operators, attractions,
and providers - together with buyers, which include,
primarily, leading tour operators and wholesalers from
around the world, for two days of intense appointments
for buying, selling, negotiating, making new contacts,
and so on. We have an education component layered
in that’s very much directed to sales and marketing
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 pri-
mary event.
“We also do an event called CHIEF, the Caribbean Hos-
pitality Industry Exchange Forum, which is very much
professional development and education-oriented.
We started that event last October in Puerto Rico and
it was very successful – 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
members with a tradeshow component to it. We’ll be
repeating that again, this year, in the same location,
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 Mi-
ami and is a combination of a couple of things, includ-
ing a competitive culinary event for the chefs. We have
chefs from national teams throughout the Caribbean
who come together for three days of intense competi-
tion for the rights of calling themselves the Caribbean
Culinary Team of the Year, the Chef of the Year, the
Pastry Chef of the Year, the Bartender of the Year. It
follows international standards 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 component, 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 showcas-
ing some of their best, national dishes.
“The fourth signature event that we have is the Ca-
ribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations
Summit that’s held in November. That’s done primarily
by a company called HVS and we, along with the Ca-
ribbean Tourism Organization, are host sponsors, as
well. Those make up the bulk of our major activities
and events.”
How else do you communicate with the member-
ship?
“We probably communicate with them about four or
five times a week. We try to balance it so we don’t over-
communicate, but we have various ways. We do webi-
nars, email, and social media. At our Caribbean Travel
Marketplace, we had over nine million social media
hits on that event; it was quite exciting to see that kind
of engagement.”
The Great Recession harmed tourism pretty much
everywhere, but particularly in the Caribbean. What
does the landscape look like for the industry over
the next several years, and how do you see the As-
sociation continuing to be a viable voice for the sec-
tor?
“We just completed our first annual ‘Industry Perfor-
mance and Outlook Study.’ The findings really showed
that we’re continuing on an upward path that started
about three years ago for the region as an aggregate.
Some destinations did okay during the Recession,
some struggled quite a bit, and some came out of it
earlier than others. Collectively, the region really came
out of it about three years ago, and we’ve seen a good
upward trend line. More than half the hotels reported
strong to moderate performance in 2015. With in-
creased occupancies and arrivals, most hotels also
increased their employment rolls. So there was some
robust hiring, last year.
“Also, one of the things that happened during the Re-
cession is we saw a retrenchment in capital expendi-
tures. We’re starting to see people coming out of that,
and last year, they came out of it quite significantly. So,
capital expenditures and investments in hotel proper-
ties were up, last year, and are projected to increase
in 2016. The profit picture is a little unsettling, yet, in
part because of people still struggling. There are a lot
of back payments and things that were put on hold.
And because of the Recession, we were not able to