ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY

Officials of the Opening Ceremony of the OAS Small Hotels Forum
(Seated left to right: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism Mrs. Milinette Ambrose, Mr. Richard Campbell, Chief of Office of Tourism, Department of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, OAS, Ambassador, Permanent Representative Antigua & Barbuda, Deborah Mae Lovell, Mr. Jean Ricot Dormeus, OAS Representative Antigua & Barbuda, and Mr. Cortwright Marshall, Director of Policy, Ministry of Tourism).  
 

The Organization of American States (OAS), in conjunction with the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Government of Luxembourg, and the Government of Serbia is organizing a Forum for Caribbean Small Hotels in Antigua and Barbuda as part of the Small Tourism Enterprise Network initiative.  This Forum will be held at the Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute, Antigua, July, 12-13, 2012.

 

The forum will provide opportunities for small hotels to access new information on service quality, 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. This 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.

 

Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, and Culture, the Honorable John Maginley offered 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”.

 

Mr. Colin James, CEO of the Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority 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 & Barbuda has been chosen to host such a venture”.

 

Participants are expected to come from 15 Caribbean countries, some of which include: 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. The participants for the forum will include owners and/or operators of small hotels, in addition to public sector officials involved with the development and support of the small hotels sub-sector in the region.