Source: Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA)

From Greta Andzenge, Marketplace Excellence

MIAMI, Florida (October 5, 2022) – In keeping with its commitment to advance the quality, sustainability and profitability of the tourism industry in the Caribbean, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) has announced the winners of its 2022 Destination Resilience and Caribbean Hotel Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF) awards.

Caribbean tourism stakeholders gathered during CHTA’s inaugural Caribbean Travel Forum just prior to the start of the 40th Caribbean Travel Marketplace to celebrate the achievements of their colleagues during a highly anticipated event held at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

CHTA presented its new Destination Resilience Awards, which were conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic, in recognition of destinations that used innovative, unique and timely responses to the global public health crisis that led to their recovery while maintaining lives and livelihoods. The award considered both internal and external efforts to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the local tourism industry. For evaluation purposes, destinations were categorized by annual operating budgets.

This year’s CHIEF Awards recognize successful practices CHTA member hotels and tourism-related enterprises have adopted in the areas of business operations, environmental sustainability, human resources and staffing, and sales and marketing in the post-pandemic period. Due to COVID-19, the CHIEF Awards ceremony had not been held since 2019.

Destination Resilience Awards

In the larger tourism destination category, Aruba emerged the Destination Resilience winner, being recognized for its “heart, soul and diligence to restore the lifeblood of the island”. For Aruba, innovation “paved the way to restoration, recalibration and revisitation” through initiatives such as implementing the Aruba Health & Happiness Code and pioneering a collaboration with Ok2Roam. 

First runner-up Jamaica was applauded for introducing the JAMAICA CARES program and successfully positioning Jamaica at the forefront of international tourism recovery by ensuring close inter-sector collaboration, launching a vaccination campaign and leveraging essential resources such as the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.

For destinations with smaller annual operating budgets, top resilience honors were awarded to Grenada. The Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association and the Grenada Tourism Authority partnered and strategized together with Grenada’s Ministry of Health to create infection control protocols that served a range of sectors from hospitality to restaurants to taxi and tour services. Through many effective public-private partnerships, quarantine solutions and technology solutions were developed that set the stage for the destination’s eventual recovery. 

Nevis was recognized as first-runner up in the category for its efforts to maintain the tourism and hospitality industry’s wellbeing through training and support, internal and external partnerships, embracing virtual events and overall destination management and recovery. 

Marketplace Excellence, 1812 Front Street, Suite 1814-3F, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076 | www.marketplaceexcellence.com