Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association’s (CHTA) premier tourism marketing event, Caribbean Travel Marketplace 2014, is opening its doors in Jamaica today.
More than 1,200 delegates from more than 26 countries in North America, South America and Europe are expected to attend the event, which will serve as a platform to showcase the some of the main latest developments and offerings throughout the Caribbean travel sector.
Caribbean Travel Marketplace, the largest and most important business-to-business marketing event for the region’s hospitality industry, will be held
from January 12-14 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
It is expected to draw on the success of last year’s event, which saw an increase in pre-scheduled business meetings between buyer and supplier companies with 12,476 appointments scheduled in advance which is 226 more appointments than the 2012 edition of the event.
Another positive highlight from Caribbean Travel Marketplace 2013 was the increase in international buyer interest with 22 countries represented, an increase of fourmore countries over 2012.
In November, The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) appointed hospitality industry leader Jeff Vasser to the position of Director General/CEO of the organization.
Vasser joined the CHTA after serving since 2002 as the President of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority (ACCVA). While there he oversaw the day-to-day operation of the authority’s management/administration, convention sales, marketing, media relations, and tourism divisions, as well as its approximately 60 employees, the 14,000-seat Boardwalk Hall and the 500,000-square-foot Atlantic City Convention Center.
Vasser is responsible for helping to manage and grow CHTA’s role as the voice of the Caribbean hospitality industry for the development of the region in the highly competitive environment of international tourism.
He replaced Alec Sanguinetti who retired at the end of January after 19 years with the organization, nine of which were as Director General/CEO.
According to Richard J. Doumeng, CHTA’s President, Vasser was chosen after a comprehensive search that saw interest from more than 100 well-qualified candidates. “We have only had two CEO’s in our 51-year history, so obviously the selection process was very important,”
“Jeff brings a wealth of experience, energy, enthusiasm and optimism to our association and we are all delighted that he is joining us.
“We are eager to get to work on the future of this organization as it plays such a vital role in the region.” Doumeg added.
Founded in 1962, CHTA represents the entire spectrum of the hospitality industry’s private sector including 33 National Hotel Associations across the Caribbean region, over 600 individual hotel members with approximately 91,000 rooms, and more than 300 supplier companies represented as “Allied” members. CHTA’s mission is to facilitate the full potential of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry by serving members’ needs and building partnerships in a socially responsible and sustainable manner.
CHTA’s hotel member companies are comprised of properties of all sizes – from small boutique properties to mega resorts with international notoriety – each appealing to different market bases. CHTA-member hotels employ approximately 100,000 employees that are based in the Caribbean as well as a worldwide network of sales and marketing personnel throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, United Kingdom and Europe.
Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com
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