Caribbean Hotels Call for Heads of Government Summit on Tourism Issues Impacting Region

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) Board of Directors has called on the Caribbean Heads of Government to convene a regional summit on tourism within the next six months. The last Heads of Government Summit on Tourism was in July 2001.

"CHTA and the Caribbean hotel industry see an urgent need for a Summit meeting on the highest level to deal with a variety of issues adversely impacting tourism to our region," said Alec Sanguinetti, director general and CEO of CHTA. "CHTA will work diligently to make this Summit meeting a reality," Sanguinetti added.

The CHTA Board of Directors issued the following proclamation following meetings during Caribbean Travel Marketplace in the Bahamas:

"Recognizing the centrality of tourism to future Caribbean prosperity; the need for governments and the tourism industry as a whole to work more closely together; the unique capacity of the tourism industry, as outlined in the CHTA 'Tourism is Key' program to increase employment, foreign exchange, investment and GDP growth at a time of economic uncertainty; and the concerning challenges that the industry as a whole now faces; the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association's (CHTA) Board of Directors calls on Caribbean Heads of Government to convene, within the next six months, a regional summit on tourism.

"If the Caribbean is to remain the world's leading warm weather tourism destination, CHTA believes that Governments, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the leadership of the industry and industry partners need to develop jointly and as a matter of urgency, a strategic approach that provides sustainable long term growth in the Caribbean tourism economy.

"To this end, the CHTA Board calls on Caribbean Heads of Government to consider with industry partners all major aspects of tourism including airlift, travel facilitation, marketing, visitor security, human resource development, the environment, and new ways to encourage GDP growth through a common approach to the problems facing the industry. Such a summit would enable the Caribbean, as the most tourism dependent region in the world, to address global competition and return to the levels of success last seen in 2006."