Regional Small Hoteliers Attend Antigua Forum

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Hotels

Friday, 13 July 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St. John’s – A number of overseas agencies have partnered with the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA) to organise a Forum for Caribbean Small Hotels which is currently under way at the Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute.

Collaborating with ABTA to host the July 12 to 13 round-table sessions are the Organization of American States (OAS), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Government of Luxembourg, and the Government of Serbia, a release said.
 
The initiative is part of the Office of Tourism’s Sustainable Tourism Program for 2012 under the auspices of the Small Tourism Enterprise Network (STEN) Project that focuses on improving the competitiveness of small and medium tourism enterprises.

The expected outcome of the meeting is to provide opportunities for small hotels to access new information on service quality through discussions on the culture of hospitality, social responsibility, marketing, technology tools and information systems for the tourism sector and the use of social media among small hotels.
 
Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, and Culture, John Maginley threw his full support behind this regional forum, stating, “We are pleased here in Antigua & Barbuda to be partnering with OAS in such a critical initiative for our Small Hotels. It is this kind of awareness that will provide significant assistance to the smaller hotel properties by providing invaluable training on how to better market and enhance their product offering.”
 

Chief Executive Officer of ABTA Colin James added, “The ABTA thought it prudent to partner with OAS on accommodating the Small Hotels forum, as it will help to equip the smaller properties with information on how to use technology and other tools to better market themselves. This is imperative now within a Tourism Market which is still experiencing major challenges in rebounding from the downturn in the global economy. Therefore, this initiative is both timely and relevant and again we are pleased that Antigua and Barbuda has been chosen to host such a venture.”
 
In addition to public sector officials involved with the development and support of the small hotels sub-sector in the region, participants include owners and/or operators of small hotels from 15 Caribbean countries, among which are Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitt’s & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago.

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