The Caribbean Hotel Association has expanded its mandate and changed the name of the organization to reflect a broader constituency that represents the hospitality and tourism industry in the region and to accommodate the growing number of non-hotel members either joining or seeking to join the association.

The CHA Annual General meeting, which took place in Miami, FL, on July 22, 2008, ratified the proposal brought forth by the CHA Board of Directors to change the name of the institution to the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) to accommodate the integration of all companies working in or related to the whole tourism sector.

“This will be a way to show to our governments, public and private multilateral institutions, and all players in the tourism sector that CHTA has a broader span of representation of industry partners and therefore plays a major significant role in the Caribbean,” said Enrique De Marchena, newly inaugurated president of CHTA for 2008-2010.

At the same time, CHTA has restructured the organization both operationally and financially and the result is also a stronger association serving the interest of the hospitality industry in the Caribbean.

The CHA Board, under the direction of the former CHA president, Peter Odle, was challenged to grow the association into a stronger, more diverse body that better encompasses the entire hospitality industry. The Board initiated the necessary changes to the CHA Articles of Association to increase the relevance of the organization to meet the current needs of the stakeholders and expand the membership categories to include other related companies within the hospitality industry.

Moving forward as the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, the reformed and the renamed organization will now enable membership for all tourism industry stakeholders such as commercial establishments, restaurants, attractions, shops, artisans and others. “Tourism means business for all residents on our islands and we need to create a better understanding of this within our own communities,” De Marchena said.

Peter Odle, now Chairman of CHTA said: “If we are to remain the world traveler’s most sought after warm weather vacation destination, all of us in the tourism and hospitality industry including hotels, governments, restaurants, taxi associations, crafts markets, shopkeepers and even the cruise lines are going to have to work together in an atmosphere where cooperation is a way of life, not merely a watchword.”