Courtesy: TravelWeeklyNews
MIAMI – The annual Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC), described as “re-energized and buoyant” by Berthia Parle, president of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), tackled the U.S. passport initiative and convened the first-ever heads of government forum at a CHIC conference to get the public and private sectors “on the same page.”
CHA, which stepped out of its comfort zone in the Caribbean to hold its first CHIC outside the region in Miami (at the Hyatt Regency Miami June 26 to 29). As a result, delegates found it a much easier venue to reach.
Consequently, CHIC 2006 also will be held in Miami with the Hyatt Regency again serving as host hotel. Parle also announced that CHA Marketplace will be held Jan. 15 to 17, 2006 at the new convention center in San Juan (set to open in October).
This year’s CHIC drew 1,110 delegates, up from 744 in 2004, representing a 30% increase. The conference theme this year was Caribbean Hospitality: the Roadmap to the Future. Other figures: 138 booths this year, up from 96 last year; 13 culinary teams versus 12 last year. Best of all, 242 hoteliers representing 146 hotel companies, “the highest number since 1999,” Parle said.
Invest in Environmental Development
In a passionate speech laced with personal anecdotes and history, environmentalist, lawyer, founder of the Riverkeepers project and president of the Natural Resource Defense Council Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. called on the Caribbean region to invest in environmental development that embraces all walks of life.
Kennedy’s keynote speech opened the annual Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference. Kennedy pointed out that tourists visit the Caribbean not only for the scenery, sand, sun and beaches but also to experience the friendliness of the people they encounter. Kennedy said the job of environmentalists is to inject a long-term view into the political dialogue.
Too often, in Kennedy’s view, politicians, economic leaders and corporate CEO’s have short-term horizons. He reminded his listeners that “your job as environmentalists is to amplify the voices of the future generation. In addition, inject them into the political dialogue to ensure that the decisions we make today are not short-term that will end up penalizing the next generation.”
U.S. Passport Initiative
The Caribbean region stands to lose more than 188,000 jobs and $2.6 billion in visitor export earnings if an extension to the proposed U.S. passport initiative, set to take effect Jan. 1, 2006 in the region, is not granted. Caribbean Hotel Association president Berthia Parle reported on the findings of a recent study commissioned by the World Travel and Tourism Council. It measured the impact of the proposed regulations on travel by U.S. visitors to the Caribbean.
CHA is asking that the playing field be leveled and the same introductory date of Jan. 1, 2007 — that Mexico and Canada have been granted — be extended to the Caribbean region. The 2007 date “will allow the region’s tourism parties to better prepare. We cannot meet the January 2006 deadline.
It physically cannot be done, and it makes the Caribbean totally non-competitive, ” Parle said, adding that the new regulations will cause “significant hardship for several destinations that have grown to rely on an open movement of visitors.”
