St. Kitts welcomes region’s small hoteliers
Three-day trade show at Marriott
By Melissa Bryant
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
~~Adz:Right~~BASSETERRE, ST.KITTS – THE Federation will be opening its doors to independent hoteliers from across the region as of tomorrow for the hosting of the annual Caribbean Hotels Retreat at the St. Kitts Marriot Resort and Royal Beach Casino.
The three-day Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA)-sanctioned event, which concludes on Friday, aims to foster the open exchange of ideas and experiences and to provide practical hands-on advice from industry experts that delegates can put into practice immediately.
This year’s conference is being hosted by the St. Kitts Chapter of the Hotel and Tourism Association, with the theme of “serving the needs of the small and independent hoteliers”. Small hotels consisting of 75 rooms or less are the primary audience; however, the conference is open to all Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association members.
Hoteliers are expected to focus on marketing, technology and human resource development issues. People who specialise in serving smaller hospitality operations are expected to showcase their products and services at the trade show.
SKNVibes spoke with the CHTA’s Conferences and Events Director, Vanessa Ledesma, who pointed out that delegates would be attending the retreat from a variety of Caribbean islands, including Jamaica, St. Maarten, USVI, BVI, Anguilla, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, Dominica, the Bahamas and St. Lucia.
According to Ledesma, the main objective of the conference is to provide a platform for small hoteliers to interact with fellow colleagues, to exchange their respective ideas and experiences, and to be privy to the latest industry information.
Registration is slated for the first day of the retreat, with the night schedule consisting of a welcome reception in which the Prime Minister of the Federation, Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas, Minister of State for Tourism Sen. Ricky Skerritt and Enrique DeMarchena Kaluche, President of the CHTA, will address the delegates on various hotel-related issues.
Day two is entitled “Operations Day” and will feature a comprehensive slate of presentations related to hotel management in the morning, while the afternoon session will have a series of roundtable discussions focusing on the topic.
The final day of the retreat is called “Marketing Day”. Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has developed content specifically for the small and independent Caribbean hotelier and will draw upon their rich vein of top quality speakers and presenters to provide a unique, hands-on, full day devoted to hotel marketing.
The conference concludes with an internal feedback session, where the delegates will have the opportunity to analyse and discuss their experiences over the past three days.
“The CHTA has not had an event in St. Kitts for quite some time, and we are extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to return to this lovely island. With the vast number of small properties that can be found in both St. Kitts and Nevis, the CHTA feels that this is an ideal location to hold our annual conference,” Ledesma said.
