The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) has added two new conferences for 2011 with a new Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Conference planned for Barbados June 1-3 and the Caribbean Boutique and Intimate Hotel Conference for Oct. 13 - 15 in St. Lucia.

“With profitability returning to the global hospitality sector, hoteliers and tourism enterprises in the Caribbean are actively seeking ways to maximize their share of business in an increasingly competitive industry,” said Josef Forstmayr, president of CHTA.  “We’ve redesigned our conferences to provide the tools and support our members will need to succeed in this fast-changing environment.”
       
CHTA’s events calendar for 2011-12 includes the following:

15th Annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference
              May 10 - 12, 2011
              Montego Bay Convention Centre, Jamaica

Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Conference
              June 1 - 3, 2011
              Lloyd Sandiford Erskine Centre, Barbados

Taste of the Caribbean
              June 22 - 26, 2011
              Hyatt Regency Miami, FL

The Caribbean Boutique and Intimate Hotel Conference - The Quintessential Caribbean
              Oct. 13 - 15, 2011
              St. Lucia

Caribbean Marketplace
              Jan. 22 - 24, 2012
              Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

The first event coming up is the 15th Annual Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC) taking place at the brand new Montego Bay Convention Centre in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from May 10-12, 2011.  Held in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), CHTIC pairs hotel members and government investment agencyofficials with lenders, investors, builders and other interested parties in a series of one-on-one meetings to map out the trajectory of the region’s development.

From June 1-3, CHTA is launching the inaugural Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Conference (CHTC) at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Center in Barbados, where delegates will hear from experts and industry professionals regarding forecasts and trends and discuss ways to overcome the specific challenges affecting the Caribbean tourism industry.  CHTC’s theme is linked to CHTA’s Advocacy campaign “Tourism is Key” which creates awareness throughout the Caribbean’s various communities of the importance of tourism to the region, based on data from the Oxford Economics tourism economic impact study.

CHTC will be followed by CHTA Committee Meetings, Board Meeting and the Annual General Meeting.

Taste of the Caribbean will take a larger stage this year as the competitions will be held in Florida at the Hyatt Regency Miami, June 22-26.  Providing a platform for showcasing Caribbean cuisine, this is the one annual opportunity for food and beverage staff to network, polish professional skills and cheer on colleagues in competition before a large audience of industry peers and consumer culinary enthusiasts.

The Caribbean Boutique and Intimate Hotel Conference will be hosted by St. Lucia from Oct. 13 - 15.  During this conference, owners and managers of the finest Caribbean boutique and intimate properties will gather to learn about the latest trends in their unique and ‘quintessential Caribbean’ market segment.

CHTA is also beginning to prepare for its first conference in 2012 - the 30th anniversary of Caribbean Marketplace.  Hosted at Atlantis, Paradise Island, The Bahamas from Jan. 22 - 24, Caribbean Marketplace 2012 will bring together tour operators and wholesalers with the region’s hotels and governments to strategize their marketing and promotion of the region for 2012 and beyond.