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National Hotel and Tourism Association
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affonso-dassPatricia Affonso-Dass

Patricia Affonso-Dass was born in Roseau Dominica. A true product of the Caribbean, she left Dominica at the age of 2 and lived in Trinidad and Antigua before moving to Guyana where she grew up; she has lived in Barbados for the past 19 years since August 1998.

Patricia studied Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University in Florida and holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours from that University.

Her affinity for tourism has spanned a 28-year career in the tourism industry ranging from her first job with the Caribbean Hotel Association (now Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association), to management positions in Guyana and Barbados with Business Hotels, Jungle Resorts, Attractions and Leisure Properties. Patricia was a founding member and Past President of the Tourism Association of Guyana and over the past 19 years since moving to Barbados she has managed Bougainvillea Beach Resort, Ocean Park and Beach View Hotel.

Since September 2009 Patricia has been the Group General Manager of Ocean Hotels comprising a total of 215 rooms, where she has three properties under her watch: the four-star South Beach Hotel a 49 room boutique all suite property; Sea Breeze Beach Hotel, a boutique four-star all-inclusive property; and, Ocean Two Resort and Residences, a four-star-plus luxury condo hotel. During her period with Ocean Hotels Patricia was involved in the completion and opening of Ocean Two, a major refurbishment project at Sea Breeze Beach Hotel, oversaw and managed the $2.8M upgrade and renovation of the 49 room South Beach Hotel and is presently managing the full renovation and expansion of Sea Breeze Beach Hotel to be reopened in November with an additional 44 luxury ocean front suites, 78 full renovated rooms and additional restaurants and leisure facilities.

Patricia has a proven track record in consistently increasing and maintaining occupancy and ADR, cost control, developing and maintaining supplier relationships and improving service quality. Passionate about service quality and service delivery Patricia is a strong team leader, she supports training and is constantly encouraging and working with her managers and their teams at the hotels to continually seek to
find ways to surpass guest expectations, pay attention to detail, consistently improve their personal and professional abilities and to take pride in their hotel, industry and island.

As evidence of her commitment to service excellence and human resource development Ocean Two is recognised as one of only 5 AAA 4 diamond hotels in Barbados, was qualified as an assessment centre for NVQ and CVQ qualifications in 2015, was the winner of the BHTA’s President Award for A Class Hotel of the Year 2014 and Large Hotel of the Year 2016, has been a finalist in 2014 and 2016 in the Barbados Best Business Awards which recognises and honour local organisations with exemplary human resources practices, policies and programmes and was the winner of the CHTA CHIEF Award for Excellence in Business Operations in 2016.

Over the past 14 years Patricia has sat on the board of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association in various capacities including Chair Person of Direct Tourism Services, Chair Person of the Marketing Committee, Second and 1st VP and President.

As President of the BHTA Patricia represented the BHTA on the Board of the Barbados Tourism Authority and the Barbados Private Sector Association and has remained a tireless and outspoken advocate for the industry on a number of critical issues.

A key achievement of Patricia’s role as President of BHTA was her involvement in the amendment of the Tourism Development Act to truly recognize Tourism as an Export Industry granting licensed hotel and tourism operators an exemption from the duties and taxes payable for the local purchase or importation of supplies including food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, consumables and supplies required for
the operation or development of a tourism product or tourism project. Patricia is a Past President of the BHTA and the 3rd VP of Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.