CHATA –MCB Breakfast Meeting: Caribbean Tourism Performance and its challenges…

Willemstad (October 19th, 2018) – On Friday, CHATA hosted its Breakfast Meeting of
2018 at CHATA member Omundo Restaurant. The Breakfast Meeting featured presentations
from Ms. Martha Valdivia, Director of Membership Development CHTA, Ms. Stacy Cox,
President & CEO of the Turks & Caicos Hotel & Tourism Association and Ms. Tisa LaSorte,
President & CEO of the Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association. As members of the Caribbean
Society of Hotel Association Executives (CSHAE) all speakers provided their intake on the
performance of the Caribbean Tourism and its challenges.
In order to ensure an optimal development of the Tourism sector it is wise to also elaborate
and evaluate on how other islands are managing the industry. As the Caribbean region we
must also see ourselves as one big family that needs to help one another in order to develop the tourism industry for the region. Especially seeing the fact that the industry is one of the biggest economic pillars for the majority of the Caribbean islands. For this reason, CHATA invited three association executives, whom are members of the Caribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives (CSHAE). Ms. Martha Valdivia, Ms. Stacy Cox, and Ms. Tisa LaSorte all provided their intake on how the Caribbean Tourism is performing and how their association is managing the industry for their island.
According to Ms. Stacy Cox, President & CEO of the Turks & Caicos Hotel & Tourism
Association, creating demand for your island must be of high importance. In order for the
Caribbean Tourism to excel it is imperative that each island creates demand by investing in
the markets that are showing interest for the destination.
Ms. Martha Valdivia, Director of Membership Development at the Caribbean Hotel &
Tourism Association (CHTA), enlightened all present about the core purpose and key
activities of CHTA. Being the umbrella association which represents 32 other Caribbean
destinations, CHTA is responsible for making sure that the Caribbean Tourism moves
forward accordingly on a macro level.
Mr. Miles Mercera, President & CEO of CHATA sat down in a Q&A session with Ms. Tisa
LaSorte, President & CEO of Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association (AHATA). According to Ms.
LaSorte, Aruba’s tourism is seeing the benefits of a strong collaboration between the public
and private sector and we must continue on this path. As an advice for Curaçao, Ms. Lasorte noted to focus on building the demand for the destination and mentioned the millennial as the perfect fit for Curaçao product offering.
“Today we have taken the time to expand our horizon regarding tourism and even nourish our passion for tourism even more” states Miles Mercera. “For the Caribbean Tourism we, as a region, must unify ourselves and become one big Caribbean Family. A common challenge that the Caribbean Tourism is facing is the finding of optimal financial resources. However, this must not restrain us. It should encourage us to approach tourism in an out of the box matter where investment, flexibility and creative thinking play a vital role. By aiming our efforts around one common goal which is to elevate the Caribbean Tourism we can surely guarantee a lucrative industry. Therefore, we are excited as a region to continue strengthening our Caribbean ties and exchanging information with each other.”
Stay Focused…
Dare to Think Differently!
CHATA will continue its efforts to involve all relevant stakeholders in development of the
tourism industry and will organize similar sessions to explore new and out of the box ideas
to further grow our tourism product.
CHATA reminisces on yet another successful and informative meeting and extends its
gratitude to its member and partner Maduro & Curiel’s Bank for sponsorship of this well
attended Breakfast Meeting at Omundo Restaurant. In partnership we move forward
towards achieving a vibrant and sustainable tourism product.
For more information, visit our website www.chata.org and follow us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/CHATACuracao