Barbados confab promises Carib boom

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC:

PRESIDENT OF the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Berthia Parle, said the just ended ninth Caribbean Hotel Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC) in Barbados has set the platform for a major investment boom in the regional tourism industry.

She said the attendance and participation at the three-day conference was "one of the best", with the association registering a record participation of companies and delegates.

She told a closing news conference that this clearly suggests that the Caribbean had become one of the hot spots for investments in the world.

Just over 400 delegates from all over the world met at the Sherbourne Conference Centre in Barbados for the CHA conference.

"This shows a level of renewed interest in the Caribbean - a lot of these people were here to finalise deals during the record 200 appointments held over the three days, and look at new properties. It is clear that the Caribbean is a hot spot at the moment," she said.

However, the CHA president admitted that she was concerned as to whether the region was able to sustain this level of interest.

"We can only do this if an enabling environment is in place ­ the human resource development and the training to ensure the sustainability of these projects and programmes," Parle said.

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE

She added that all of the major lending institutions from across the World such as the European Union and the World Bank were present at the Barbados conference and they seemed equally optimistic about the future investment in this region.

Investors at the conference came from as far away as Switzerland, Malta, the Philippines, Germany and Spain.

Former CHA president and chairman and chief executive officer of Almost Resorts Inc., Ralph Taylor, who is credited with introducing the all-inclusive resort concept to Barbados, told the conference that the two hottest Caribbean destinations for investments at this time were St. Lucia and Cuba.

"That speaks well for us and I understand that Barbados, which has a lot going on at the moment is also in there, so it is now our responsibility in the region to ensure that everything is in place to deal with the upsurge in investment and expansion of the industry," Parle said.

She added, however, that she was concerned about the crime situation in the region. "We have to begin to put our heads together to ensure that it does not affect the industry in any significant way."