Cuba to Form First Hotel Assocation

Cuba to Form First Hotel Association

BY MARK NOVELLI|SUPPLIERS|ADD A COMMENT

Cuba has requested assistance from the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association to create its own hotel association.

The news comes mere months after President Obama lifted the U.S. travel ban to the country. Assistance would help Cuba increase its tourism efforts, which are critical to its socioeconomic development.

“The Caribbean is one of the few remaining tourist regions where it is possible to develop tourism in a sustainable manner, and to do this we must work together in order to promote one Caribbean brand that is cheerful, festive and that will integrate us as part of the culture that we share,” said Luis Miguel Diaz, Cuba’s vice minister of tourism during a meeting between the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association and  Cuban and international officials. “The best option is to do this together.”

Karolin Troubetzkoy, president, CHTA, echoed Diaz’s words, noting the importance of sustainable tourism development.

“Frankly, with all of the free and positive publicity that Cuba is receiving at the moment, we were pleased by their strong focus on both building a stronger Caribbean brand and ensuring that it is done in the most sustainable fashion,” she said.

Cuba has requested models from around the region to help the country build the strongest hotel association possible, and Troubetzkoy knows the work that will need to go into such an act.

“The region has tremendous untapped potential to grow and develop tourism to the greater benefit of it’s people, governments and tourism stakeholders,” she said. “To do this effectively will require an unprecedented level of commitment by the region’s public and private sector leaders.”