Dear colleagues, I stand here at the completion of my two-year term as your President with a certain amount of disbelief.
Disbelief in the fact that it has been two years since I took the helm of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and disbelief in how fast the time has gone. So fast that now we are the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), a project that we all have supported and little by little, we are making into reality.
I took on the role of your President at a time of change. We had just expanded the vision of the CHA into the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association to encompass the wider reach that CHTA needed to succeed in our mission of being the leading private sector tourism institution in the Caribbean.
There is no disbelief in the fact that together we have moved CHTA forward.
Together because many of you have worked hard to help us achieve a lot over the past two years and I am humbled to say that it has been with the support that I have received from both the staff and volunteers of this Association that we have been able to overcome and succeed in these difficult times.
I have tried to bring both a visionary and business-style approach to CHTA to bring the association to a new and higher level. I have learned a lot over these two very intensive years, especially about the Caribbean, its people, its different languages and cultures, its different mentalities, its great potential in the tourism industry.
I have learned how much has been accomplished, but know how much more can be done if we work together private and public sector to invest in our countries, our people, in the understanding of the industry, in infrastructure and so on.
Running an association requires incorporating all points of view using business acumen and making decisions on a business basis. Coming from a legal, discipline, background, I have been able to separate the issues and deal with everything in the proper time.
Many of you, especially those that have been on the CHTA Board of Directors for a number of years, may have noticed that our Board meetings have gone smoothly and quickly, very much akin to a business meeting. It has been very much a part of our new focused approach at CHTA to keep everything, including our meetings on track.
CHTA has gone through a tough period since June 2008 as we orchestrated the completion of our reduction of staff and also experienced the extraordinary difficult economy that has crippled the tourism world. The trickle down impact that you as individual hotels and companies have experienced has also been felt at CHTA.
But I am very happy to be able to report to you today that we have ended our Fiscal year and entered 2010 with a surplus of funds in our treasury. And Josef will be very pleased to hear that I am handing over our budget with a projected surplus for 2010 to 2011.
This has been no easy task. As our members have been challenged with low occupancy and some have chosen to save money wherever they can, including foregoing the important dues paying for continued membership in CHTA.
And while our dues collections are off, we have tightened the spending and as I said, have produced a surplus, a small surplus, for the past Fiscal year ending March 31.
I mentioned that some of our members have forsaken their membership to save money, but I don’t just say this because we need their funds to continue to operate.
But we do need them for a much important goal which is to continue to show the strength that comes in numbers when we all stand together and advocate for the improvement of the Caribbean product and environment as well as a broader understanding of the importance of tourism throughout our communities in the region.
I hope that our message reaches them so they may rejoin our ranks and stand with us as we move forward on a number of crucial issues.
On the other hand, I was energized with the membership as I have listened to the members, both hoteliers and allied members on the local hotel association levels and in the international marketplace and heard their wishes.
I am proud to say that I was able to make myself available to orchestrate the business of CHTA and equally proud that I was able to attend events on behalf of CHTA in the Caribbean and across the world.
I came into this job as your President because I have a passion for this industry. The hospitality, travel and tourism industry remains one of the world’s most exciting industries and I am honored to be a part of it and to help mold our mission within the industry.
I have had several goals over the past two years. ONE was to leave CHTA on a financially sound ground and a much stronger institution, which I have already reported was accomplished.
Pursuing this goal, over the past year I have had the task to lead the transition of our annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference from an outsourced event to in in-house operated conference.
And this year, despite the continued soft economy, especially in the real estate arena, we held one of the most successful Investment Conferences in Puerto Rico with more than 330 attendees including hoteliers, developers, bankers, lenders, ministers and directors of tourism and product development for the destinations.
Another goal was to strengthen our role as advocates of the importance of tourism which is crucial to maintaining the success of our industry, especially during these difficult economic times.
I believe that across the region there is a stronger perception of what CHTA stands for and about our mission and we are stronger today than we were yesterday.
We in the Caribbean hotel industry recognize that the economic importance of travel and tourism to the Caribbean is indisputable.
However, there is still insufficient awareness and understanding of the industry’s economic contribution and how it permeates the depth and breadth of the general economy and overall fabric of Caribbean society.
Considerable time, effort and funds have been spent to study, review, research, report and make recommendations about various aspects of the Caribbean tourism industry’s policy agenda. Unfortunately, implementation has not been the strongest part of the process.
We are currently taking steps to improve this by forming a Strategic Alliance with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in which we will have access and support of information that provides greater credibility to our importance as an industry and generator of jobs throughout the region.
This benefit of tourist spending impacting into the wider economy is the relevance that needs to be conveyed to our own people in the islands so that everyone understands the importance of these tourists and the dollars they bring to the economy.
We need to continue to remind our own people that “tourism business means jobs,” not only in the hotels, but for the taxis, the restaurants and the farmers and fishermen that fill the restaurants with food.
It also means work for the seamstress and the crafts people. And the shopkeepers including all their workers including the deliverymen as well as the trash collectors. Hotels also need managers, engineers, accountants, chefs, and so on.
We need to raise the level of consciousness with our own national and youth residents and ensure that they can participate in the ownership and economic benefits of the industry.
We need to continue our efforts in order that our politicians and the general population understand that the tourism industry feeds the economic chain and builds strength in the human resource development of our youth. This is ever more crucial in today’s economic climate.
Despite the optimistic views for Caribbean tourism expressed in January 2010 by other organizations, CHTA maintained that 2010 will be more challenging for Caribbean tourism than 2009 and that any sustained recovery would not take place until late 2011.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has also revised its 2010 global travel forecast downward from 3.5% to 0.5% which is a further indication of the challenges to be faced in 2010 by Caribbean tourism stakeholders.
Unfortunately based on results so far this has come about. While hotel ADRs and RevPARS are slightly ahead for 2010 over last year, they are running about 16% and 21% respectively below the levels of 2008. In some destinations ADRs and RevPARS are as much as 35-40% below the 2008 levels.
This economic downturn and its long term implications are cause for serious concern and require immediate action if we are to save our industry from further hardship and also protect the wider Caribbean and our individual destination economies that tourism impacts.
It is in this light that I am making an urgent appeal for the leaders of the public and private sectors to meet on an emergency basis to address the necessary policy issues to establish Caribbean tourism on a sustainable economic platform. There is nothing more important and crucial than making this happen immediately. I cannot emphasize this enough. This must take place immediately.
In other vein, I have also taken the time for each of our most important initiatives.
Our Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association Education Foundation is one of the most important arms of CHTA and needs to be supported by every member of our Association.
There are many opportunities for our hotel members to contribute empty rooms that can be used for auctions that turn into funds for education of our youth. This is crucial for the continuation and future success of our hospitality industry.
CAST, the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, is another arm of CHTA that is essential for our continued relevance in the global tourism community and was one of the most important focuses of my two year administration.
With the consistent help of Sir Royston Hopkin, one of our most dedicated leaders at CHTA, as well as Frank and Haydee Rainieri, and many others, CAST has continued to lead the way for the hospitality industry paving greener paths for our hotel members and guests.
Our people and natural resources are among our treasures across the Caribbean. To that we have built a tourism infrastructure and hotel products that compete effectively with the best in the world. But we are also challenged to preserve both our natural resources and our hotels to maintain the quality that our guests expect.
One of our most recent initiatives in this area has been to forge a strategic all
iance with Green Globe which enables our member hotels to incorporate the Green Globe technology and procedures in their property operations.
Over the last two years we also have relaunched the Chain Hotels Forum and have received several new corporate chains as members of CHTA and expect several more chains hotels to be joining CHTA over the next year.
This important group of companies brings a level of expertise and efficiency to our industry in the region and we need to draw upon them to strengthen our overall appearance to the world.
I have also called upon our Past Presidents for their sage advice and created a stronger Past Presidents’ Club as I promised two years ago. We held several meetings and they have been among my most valued partners in strengthening CHTA in the past two years. Thanks Peter, Royston, Berthia, Simon for your “work in progress” for the benefit of CHTA.
Over the last two years we have worked to build upon the crucial relationship between CHTA and the Caribbean Tourism Organization and have had the challenge of having to re-develop relationships with three different chairpersons during that time as well as two Secretary Generals running the organization.
But we have held firm and feel that we can prevail in moving forward with CTO to the benefit of all our members as well as all of the destinations.
It is interesting to note that the consumer sees us in the Caribbean as one region but we do not see ourselves through the same eyes. We need to band together in greater solidarity than ever before to ensure that we continue to be seen well by the eyes of the consumer.
And finally, I have enjoyed working with some of the best people in the Caribbean -- the staff of CHTA. Tim and Gabi have helped me immensely over the past two years. They have my gratitude.
Richard and the staff at KTCpr have continued to provide CHTA with writing expertise and consistent communication to the media, another crucial ingredient in our ongoing Advocacy program.
Andrea has kept her eye on the financials and protected us all. Without her assistance we would not be back on that financial stability track.
Elena, Linda and Gladys are often behind the scenes, but provide a valuable backdrop to all the work that is done on behalf of you, the members.
Vanessa continues to surprise and prove that she is one of the most valuable assets that CHTA has as she orchestrates the meetings and conferences that are the lifeblood of our organization.
And Alec Sanguinetti is our tireless leader that treks across the Caribbean and around the world carrying our flag and our messages to governments and other associations. I have enjoyed working alongside him as we have strengthened CHTA over the past two years. We could not have a better person as our Director General and CEO.
Alec and I, as well as several members of our Executive Committee , has begun the process of succession and will continue with it, but what it has been proven is that sometimes the best wine is the mature one in your own cellar.
In any case, we are seen to the future and we will be looking for a Deputy Director and CEO of CHTA that is also in charge of Membership in our desire to expand it and continue what we began two years ago when we changed the name of our Association and added the T for Tourism.
Joseph, I believe that I can say, CHTA in on track, is in the right track and with your leadership it will simply go up.
Salud y Felicidades!
Caribbean Hotel & Tourism AssociationThe Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) facilitates the full potential of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry by serving members’ needs and building partnerships in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. CHTA was founded in 1962; it is the voice of the Caribbean hospitality industry for the development of the region in the highly competitive and sophisticated environment of international tourism. Today, tourism is widely recognized as a pivotal industry in the economy of the region – and CHTA functions as the common denominator for this industry in a region of diverse nationalities, languages and styles, identifying mutual problems and marshalling the resources of the active and allied members to devise solutions. CHTA represents all facets of the hospitality industry with more than 725 member hotels and 525 allied members. For more information, visit
http://www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com.
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