The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) has named Noel A. Lynch as Deputy Director General and Director of Membership, reporting directly to Alec Sanguinetti, CEO and Director General of CHTA.

“Noel Lynch has the competence and vision to work with CHTA in reshaping and further building the association as we move forward during these challenging times,” said Sanguinetti.

Lynch has extensive experience in both the public and private sector in tourism development as the former Executive Vice President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) and then as the Minister of Tourism and International Transport for Barbados.

“The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, as the region’s most vibrant private sector trade organization, has a significant role to play in the resurgence and realignment of Caribbean tourism, and I am excited to join CHTA to help guide the organization toward growth in the right direction,” Lynch said, adding:

“The world of travel and tourism has undergone the most dramatic of changes in the past decade. These industry-altering events have had an even more profound effect on the Caribbean, the world’s most tourism dependent region. The present global economic crisis has further compounded this already challenging situation. Novel approaches to how we practice the discipline are urgently needed.”

Lynch also served the tourism industry on the regional level as President of the Caribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives (CSHAE) and later as Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Chair of the Caribbean Council of Ministers.

Most recently he served as the lead consultant on the establishment of the National Tourism Authority in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as a lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality development at the University of the West Indies (UWI) – Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.

Lynch is fluent in Spanish which is an added benefit as some of the largest constituents within the CHTA membership come from Spanish-speaking destinations.

Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association

The 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.