The education foundation creates pathways for career advancement throughout the region. “Our sister organization, the CHTA Education Foundation, raises funds that are then used to provide scholarships to employees in the hospitality industry,” Destang notes. “It’s so interesting, whenever we do island visits, we meet people who are CHTA scholarship holders. One of them is a minister of tourism who got a CHTA scholarship and is now at the top of the industry from a public sector standpoint.” The foundation maintains partnerships with prestigious institutions including Les Roches in Switzerland, enabling employees to pursue degrees up to the master’s level. Recent initiatives include partnerships with George Washington University and expanded professional development programs. STRENGTHENING LOCAL ECONOMIC LINKAGES CHTA has elevated economic linkages beyond traditional sustainability checklists, creating a dedicated task force to ensure tourism generates broad-based economic benefits across Caribbean 55 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 12, ISSUE 09 CARIBBEAN HOTEL AND TOURISM ASSOCIATION
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