THE 15th ANNUAL Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC) got off to a less than spectacular start two Tuesdays ago at the Iberostar Hotel and Resort, Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Delegate attendance was just around 200, compared to last year’s 347.
In addition, the absence of the region’s ministers of tourism was noticeable. Jamaica’s Edmund Bartlett was the sole minister of tourism in attendance, and he delivered the feature address during the opening night on Tuesday.
Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) president Josef Forstmayr explained that pressing national concerns kept St Lucia’s minister of tourism Allen Chastenet, and St Kitts-Nevis’ tourism minister Ricky Skerrit, who is also chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), from attending. He said he could not account for the absence of other tourism ministers.
Alec Sanguinetti, CHTA chief executive officer and director general, said he had hoped for an increase in attendance this year but explained: “It is still a tough time for regional conferences.
“People have to make choices. Last week we had only 86 registrations and within one week, 100 additional persons registered.
“Between the CHTA and the [CTO] we have not increased our conferences, but the challenge is the economies of the region,” he said.
During the past week financiers, bankers, representatives of lending companies, investors, developers and other industry partners met for three days of stimulating talks and networking in the hope of securing critical deals to help boost arrival figures in Caribbean countries.