The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, which began in 1959 as a hotel lobby committee, has evolved into the region’s most influential hospitality voice, representing over 1,000 members with approximately 91,000 hotel rooms. “We are an association made up of 32 destinations in the Caribbean and we are sort of an association of associations,” explains Sanovnik Destang, the organization’s president since September 2024.“You could consider us as a chamber of commerce for the Caribbean’s hospitality and tourism sector.” Operating from Miami headquarters as a federation of national hotel associations, CHTA has become the recognized representative of Caribbean hospitality among international development agencies including the European Union and InterAmerican Development Bank. “Generally speaking, most destinations are well ahead of where they were pre-COVID,” Destang notes. “The Caribbean was actually the region of the world that was the fastest to recover from the pandemic.” Yet challenges loom as economic uncertainty in major source markets creates headwinds for continued growth. TRADE SHOWS AND NETWORKING CHTA’s flagship Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Marketplace is the region’s largest trade show dedicated exclusively to Caribbean tourism. This year’s event in Antigua marked a first for the destination, continuing the association’s strategy of rotating the marketplace across member territories to maximize regional participation and economic impact. “We host a few events and the major one being the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Marketplace,” Destang explains.“We bring our tour operators, online travel agents, traditional travel agents, wedding planners, meetings and incentives planners, and a whole host of other buyers to the Caribbean to meet with our member hotels.”The event’s exclusivity differentiates it. “It’s the largest trade show of its type that is focused solely on the Caribbean. You’ve got a world travel marketplace, but that’s a whole world. This is the only one that connects to the whole world, including US, UK, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean operators with our members.” The marketplace generates substantial business activity, with deals and transactions completed during the intensive networking sessions. Beyond immediate revenue opportunities, the event provides crucial market intelligence that shapes regional marketing strategies. “It allows us to get a pulse of where the market is at and to sharpen our marketing 51 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 12, ISSUE 09 CARIBBEAN HOTEL AND TOURISM ASSOCIATION
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