On Tuesday August 27th the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association will host its 50th Annual General meeting under the theme “Maintaining Competitiveness in a Changing Tourism Landscape”.
“This is a big milestone for the association” says DHTA Executive Vice President, Kevin A Francis. “We remain extremely grateful to our members and partners for continuing to work with us to help change and improve the tourism landscape on island. Our industry for these last 50 years has been carried by our authentic boutique hotels, but with the changing tourism landscape, more needs to be done in order to keep these boutique hotels operational and most of all competitive.”
Minister for Tourism Hon Sen Robert Tonge will be presenting the keynote address at the Association’s open session from 5:30 p.m. at Fort Young Hotel’s Waterfall Room. Two of the Association’s Past Presidents will also be recognized during the open session of the AGM. The awardees have been selected for being the early pioneers of the Association and for their continued support and contribution to the tourism industry in Dominica.
The president of the DHTA, Marvlyn Alexander James, agrees that our industry’s ability to stay competitive hinges on several factors that must be considered by the DHTA and public sector partners. James stated that “In order for the sector to remain competitive we need to see improvements in existing plant specifically within our smaller boutique hotels, the adherence to international standards and the provision of quality products and services. She further stated that other factors that are critical to Dominica’s tourism industry’s success are the improvement of air access, increased awareness of the destination and the training of our people to take advantage of the opportunities that exist.
The Executive Vice president Mr. Francis added that “All this work we have been able to do thus far, could not
be done without the partnership and support of our corporate partners FLOW CW business, CGM Gallagher and Archipelago Trading”.
The Annual general meeting of the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association is carded for Tuesday August 27th at the Fort Young Hotel’s Waterfall meeting room. The members-only closed session will begin at 4:00 p.m and registration for the open session begins at 5:30 p.m with a partner cocktail directly proceeding the event.
The Dominica Hotel & Tourism Association is a non-profit organization providing centralized and innovative information, advocacy, and leadership for the tourism industry in Dominica.
This association may be the weakest financially and has little to no impact on the tourism sector. They have not been able to advocate for the local existing family owned hotel and guest houses. They have said nothing about the so called investors who came with nothing, got our passports to build hotels which belong to them. After fifty years,I hope this is their last AGM.