CHTA President Patricia Affonso-Dass led a delegation that included CHTA Immediate Past President Karolin Troubetzkoy; Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Ledesma; Chief Marketing Officer Matt Cooper; Director of Membership Development, Martha Valdivia; and Director of Communications, Adriana Serna to the CGI forum at the University of Miami. 

As part of CHTA’s multi-pronged and ongoing efforts to help islands recover from last year’s devastating hurricane season, the Association’s representatives contributed to many executive sessions which focused on continuing preparations for this year’s storm activity and on addressing long-term recovery needs. Various sessions aligned with CHTA’s strategic vision, including Being Prepared for Quicker Assistance, Building Long-Term Resilient Energy Systems and Investing in Workforce Development.

“This second meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative was extremely beneficial and we were pleased to engage with diverse partners as CHTA continues to actively participate in the recovery of hurricane-hit Caribbean destinations,” said CHTA President Patricia Affonso-Dass.

“We are now assessing potential opportunities for collaboration to support our strategic focus areas and member needs and, over the coming months, CHTA looks forward to further outreaches to connections made during this important event,” she added.

CHTA’s involvement in CGI’s deliberations followed closely on the heels of its announcement with nonprofit organisation, Tourism Cares, that their joint initiative – the Caribbean Tourism Recovery Fund – has raised more than US$275,000 in charitable donations to build long-term recovery and enhance the ability of hurricane-impacted destinations to rebound as quickly as possible. Donors’ generosity has facilitated assistance to Caribbean nationals for training and education, restoring destination capacity, the physical restoration of tourism-related infrastructure, social enterprise development, job creation, hotel training, voluntourism, marketing and public relations support, and the environment.

Meanwhile, CHTA has produced a Disaster Preparedness Manual, which is in the process of being released to industry stakeholders. The purpose of the guide, financed by both the Caribbean Tourism Recovery Fund and Expedia, is to supplement local efforts to develop communications preparedness and the response and recovery process for CHTA members, national tourism organizations, and public and private sector industry stakeholders before, during and after a potential disaster. 

About the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA)

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is the Caribbean’s leading association representing the interests of national hotel and tourism associations. For more than 50 years, CHTA has been the backbone of the Caribbean hospitality industry. Working with some 1,000 hotel and allied members, and 32 National Hotel Associations, CHTA is shaping the Caribbean’s future and helping members to grow their businesses. Whether navigating new worlds like social media, sustainability, legislative issues, emerging technologies, climate change, data and intelligence or, looking for avenues and ideas to better market and manage businesses, CHTA is helping members on issues which matter most.

For further information, visit www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com.