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photo by Janet Silvera -Outgoing president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association (CHTA), Enrique deMarchena (right) hands over the gavel to incoming president Josef Forstmayr (centre) during the President's Inauguration Dinner at the Half Moon in Montego Bay, St James. Sharing in the occasion is CHTA Executive Director Alec Sanguinetti.
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Forstmayr is head of regional tourism body
Jamaican hotelier Josef Forstmayr has assumed the top post of the regional tourism body, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). Forstmayr, a 30-year veteran of the tourism industry, is a director of the Jamaica Tourist Board and managing director at Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Jamaica. He will serve a two-year term, ending June 2012.
Forstmayr accepted the instrument of office recently, during an inauguration ceremony held at Half Moon in Montego Bay from outgoing President Enrique De Marchena Kaluche.
Jamaica's Director of Tourism and Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board John Lynch had high praises for the board member and hotelier, who becomes the first Jamaican in over two decades to take up the mantle of leadership.
"Mr Forstmayr brings a wealth of experience to the post and will serve the association well. He has been a steady force for the hotel sector over the years, making him capable of leading this regional advocacy organisation," Lynch said.
Forstmayr hopes to address a number of issues during his tenure. Among them are stimulating membership growth, particularly amongst the region's new larger chain of hotels; providing greater support for the Caribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives who manage the 35 hotel associations that constitute CHTA's membership; improving regional linkages between the hotel sector and other Caribbean industries, particularly agriculture; and reviving the public and private sector's regional marketing initiative through the proper funding of the Caribbean Tourism Development Company - a marketing company owned equally by CHTA and Caribbean Tourism Organisation.
The elected officers who will work with Forstmayr during his presidency were chosen at the CHTA's annual general meeting, held recently at Half Moon in Montego Bay. These include:
- first vice-president Richard Doumeng, USVI
- second vice-president Alberto Abreu, Dominican Republic
- third vice-president Sherille Hughes, Anguilla
- fourth vice-president Hans-Georg Roehrbein, Puerto Rico
- fifth vice-president William Jonckheer, Curacao
- Treasurer Oliver Jordan, Barbados
Forstmayr began his career in the fall of 1979 as assistant manager at Coconut Cove in Negril, later moving to the Tryall Golf and Beach Hotel as resident manager. He also served as general manager at the Trident Villas and Hotel in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Forstmayr has been a director of the Jamaica Tourist Board since 1998, and has served as head of its marketing committee. He was president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourism Association from June 2001-03 and in 2007 was voted Caribbean Hotelier of the Year by the CHTA membership. |
