In his first act as President of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), Josef Forstmayr has launched the Tourism Is Key advocacy campaign underlining the importance of travel and tourism to local Caribbean economies which are more tourism-dependent than any other region in the world.

Josef Forstmayr, Managing Director of Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Montego Bay, Jamaica, W.I., has assumed the presidency of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) for a two-year term ending in June 2012.

Following recent meetings with the CHTA executive team and outgoing CHTA President Enrique De Marchena Kaluche, who now takes over the Chairmanship of CHTA, Forstmayr outlined the various objectives he wishes to address during his two-year term as president.

This fall, the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), in conjunction with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association (PRHTA) and the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau (PRCB) will present two of its annual events concurrently. The Small Hotels Retreat will take place Sept. 9 - 11, 2010 while the Taste of the Caribbean culinary event and regional competition is set for Sept. 9 - 12, 2010 - both will be held at the Rio Mar Beach Resort, A Wyndham Grand Resort in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Members of the Caribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives (CSHAE) elected its leadership and Board of Directors to guide the region’s association executives during the coming year and presented its annual Newsworthy newsletter awards to two associations.

The CHTA Education Foundation (CHTAEF) Selection Committee were kindly hosted by True Blue Bay Resort, Grenada for three-days intensive review of the 52 applications for scholarship assistance received from 15 Caribbean countries. Congratulations were in order to Montserrat for making their first application.

At a press conference held in Kingston, Jamaica, the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) announced that Caribbean Marketplace 2011 will be held at the new Montego Bay Convention Centre from Jan. 16-18, 2011 and will be presented by CHTA, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), the Jamaica Tourist Board, MasterCard and Virgin Holidays.

It is with great pleasure that the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) will recognize the accomplishments of Frank and Haydee Rainieri of Puntacana Resort & Club, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with the Bill Bissell Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented on May 5 at the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC 2010) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF) raised approximately $70,000 last weekend with a Silent Auction at The New York Times Travel Show in New York City.

Johnson & Wales University has long been one of the greatest partners of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF) and following a meeting between Jeff Greenip, Director of Admissions for the universities North Miami Campus, and CHTAEF Chairman Tom Pas at Caribbean Marketplace 2010, the two have announced the continuation of collaborative efforts to provide scholarships for Caribbean students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in the College of Culinary Arts and the Hospitality College.

Following the success of last months, Caribbean Marketplace where buyers and suppliers met to do business in pre-matched time-slots, the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) is now applying the same electronic appointment matching process to the 14th Annual Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC 2010), taking place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 4-6, 2010.