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National Hotel and Tourism Association
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OUR MISSION STATEMENT

To distinguish CHTA as one of the world’s leading associations representing tourism interests known for providing national hotel and tourism associations and members with exceptional value which generates business and advances a sustainable and profitable industry.

OUR VISION
To make the Caribbean the most desirable place in the world to visit, live, work and do business.

OUR CONSTITUENTS
CHTA members and national hotel and tourism associations are our primary customers, representing private sector tourism interests including accommodations, all tourism-facing industries and suppliers in and out of the region.  Meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations is CHTA’s paramount focus.

The lifeline of CHTA is the two-way connection between the national hotel and tourism associations, with CHTA at the hub. The NHA are connected regionally thru CHTA and locally to the various destination stakeholders.

OBJECTIVES

CHTA is guided by eleven core values and principles. These provide moral and operational grounding and are the foundation for how we relate internally, with our national hotel associations and members, and our external stakeholders.

  • Communicate: Consistently provide clear, intentional and effective communications and feedback.
  • Engage: Encourage and invite participation and leadership by members and stakeholders in the activities of the organization.
  • Share: Information, ideas, resources and best and worst practices.
  • Integrity: Adhere to the highest standards of behavior.
  • Passion: Believe in what we do and unwavering in our commitment to CHTA’s vision and mission.
  • Leadership: Provide forums, venues and opportunities for staff, partners and members to take the initiative to direct, guide, motivate and deliver.
  • Quality Driven: Committed to excelling in all that we do.
  • Adaptable: Responding to an ever-changing environment.
  • Creative: Embrace new ideas and solutions.
  • Fun: To bring joy into the engagement process.
  • Disruptive: Constructively advance game-changing ideas and solutions.

CORE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

CHTA’s success is tied to its ability to engender a cooperative and effective working relationship among all internal and external stakeholders who are essential to the delivery of CHTA’s mandate, vision and mission.  These include:

Internal Stakeholders:

  • CHTA’s Team Members
  • CHTA’s Executive Committee
  • CHTA Standing Committees
  • CHTA’s Board of Directors
  • National Hotel Associations
  • Caribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives
  • Caribbean Tourism Development Company
  • CHTAEF

External Stakeholders Include:

  • Caribbean Tourism Organization
  • Caribbean Council
  • Caribbean Central American Action
  • Caribbean Public Health Agency
  • World Travel and Tourism Council
  • UN World Tourism Organization
  • International Air Transport Association
  • CARICOM
  • Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
  • Florida Caribbean Cruise Association
  • Foundation for Environmental Education
  • Sustainable Alliance for the Americas
  • Industry Trade Organizations (Chambers of Commerce, Agriculture, etc.)
  • Governments and People of the Caribbean
  • Other Stakeholder Groups as Matters Arise

STAKEHOLDERS

CHTA is guided by seven key objectives:

  • Advocacy and Representation:  To be the leading unified voice of the private sector for tourism in the region partnering with the National Hotel and Tourism Associations while effectively communicating issues, proactively advancing positions and successfully protecting and enhancing the industry.
  • Marketing and Business Development:  To be an essential marketing and business development resource for members by providing access to information, forums, exchanges, revenue generation and cost-saving activities, and best practices.
  • Developing our People:  To ‘wow the world’ with exceptional service and hospitality, drawing upon the intrinsic sense of pride and service in our people, and advancing and supporting tourism-related education and training initiatives, scholarships, and recognition programs.
  • Safeguarding and Enhancing our Environment:  To promote policies, programs and best practices which respect our environment, support efficiencies, and develop and enhance the natural, cultural and historical aspects of our tourism offerings.
  • Data and Intelligence:  To be the primary resource for Caribbean tourism-related data, providing members with intelligence and tools to effectively use the information.
  • Providing Value and Service to our Members:  To retain and grow the organization’s membership base.
  • Operating a Fiscally Responsible and Future-Oriented Organization

HISTORY OF CHTA

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The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association first began in 1959 as a committee of the Caribbean Tourist Association – a public/private sector organization created to promote and market the region – in response to a specific hotel lobby. In 1962, CHTA, then Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) became an autonomous body as a not-for-profit limited liability corporation registered in the Cayman Islands.

Membership in the original CHA back in 1962 was made up of a number of independent hotels that shared an international profile, and therefore had common concerns, most significantly with the US tour operators.  As CHA grew, the number of hotels increased and the geographic footprint of the organization began to expand. The industry was predominantly made up of smaller properties, with the larger branded hotels being limited to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and to a lesser extent the Netherland Antilles. In the early days membership came from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica, Haiti, Aruba and Curacao. By the 1990’s CHA’s membership extended from Bermuda in the north to Guyana and Suriname in the south, and from Barbados in the Atlantic to Cancun and Cozumel in Mexico, and Belize and Honduras in Central America.

As CHA began to develop as a true federation of territorial associations, it became apparent that the executive directors of these associations held the key to CHA’s success. If they were ignored, they could effectively block CHA’s programs; if they were embraced, they could be of enormous value. CHA borrowed an idea from their involvement with the American Hotel & Motel Association (AH&MA), which embraced its state and city association through a professional body called the International Society of Hotel Association Executives (ISHAE). Consequently in 1985,  the Caribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives (CSHAE) was formed, and has since become a core element of the federation.

At the Annual General Meeting held on July, 2008, the members approved the motion to change the name of the organization to the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association effective immediately.  This change had been under review for some time and the new name emphasized the broader membership representation of the organization to include the wider tourism industry outside of the accommodation sector especially in the Caribbean.  While membership for other industry service suppliers and tourism attractions was possible under CHTA, the addition of the word Tourism is more representative of the Association and its membership.

CHTA is headquartered in Miami, Florida. The Association is governed by a board of directors elected by the member national hotel associations, according to their size. Two directors are elected to represent airlines, five to represent other allied members, one to represent chain hotels, and one each to represent the Caribbean Society of Association Executives (CSHAE), the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), the Caribbean Council (CC), and the Caribbean-Central American Action (CCAA). The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) appoints three representatives to the CHTA board.

As a result of the complete range of initiatives, CHTA has become over time the recognized representative of the Caribbean hospitality industry, as well as THE private sector developmental partner by international agencies active in the region, such as the European Union, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the Organization of American States, and the United States Agency for International Development.

PAST PRESIDENTS

2020 – 2021  Pablo Torres, Puerto Rico
2018 – 2020  Patricia Affonso-Dass, Barbados
2015 – 2018   Karolin Troubetzkoy, St. Lucia
2014 – 2015    Emil Lee, St. Maarten
2012 – 2014    Richard Doumeng, USVI
2010 –2012    Josef Forstmayr, Jamaica
2008 – 2010    Enrique de Marchena Kaluche, Dominican Republic
2006 – 2008    Peter Odle, Barbados
2004 – 2006    Senator Berthia M. Parle, MBE, St. Lucia
2002 – 2004    Simón B. Suárez, Dominican Republic

2000 – 2002    Ralph Taylor, Barbados
1998 – 2000    Edward Malone, Aruba
1996 – 1998    John Jefferis, Bermuda
1994 – 1996    Sir Royston Hopkin, KCMG, Grenada
1992 – 1994    Michael Williams, Bahamas
1990 – 1992    Chris Sharpless, USVI
1988 – 1990    Alfred Taylor, Barbados
1986 – 1988    Ed Sheerin, Antigua
1984 – 1986    Heinz Simonitsch, Jamaica
1982 – 1984    George Myers, Bahamas

1980 – 1982    Howard Hulford, Antigua
1980                  Tony Mack, BVI
1978 – 1980    Martin Donawa, Barbados
1976 – 1978    Anders Wiberg, Bahamas
1974 – 1976    Jack Gold, Jamaica
1972 – 1974    Jim Pepperdine, USVI
1970 – 1972    Earl Smith, Barbados
1965 – 1970    Osmund Kelsick, Antigua
1964 – 1965    Henry Steeber, Aruba
1962 – 1964    George Cummings, Puerto Rico