Archive for July 2019

To build on strong investment interest from hotel developers, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism will participate in two important hospitality conferences in Miami this week. Commissioner of Tourism Joseph Boschulte will address several hundred participants at the 23rd Annual International African American Hotel Ownership & Investment Summit & Trade Show, and the 6th…

Advocacy Day on the Hill represents an opportunity for groups to speak with elected officials on Capitol Hill regarding key issues. USVI representatives came together for their third year in Washington D.C. this week for the U.S. Virgin Islands’ Day on the Hill. Over twenty attendees broke off into three groups to best tackle all…

The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism will take advantage of trends which confirm the territory as a top vacation destination for American travelers. Speaking ahead of the Department of Tourism’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Hearing presentation, Commissioner of Tourism Joseph Boschulte highlighted a recent study released by MMGY Global called the “Portrait of American…

An overwhelming majority of Caribbean hotels are reconsidering using Booking.com as a result of the new commission policy which they claim is aimed at generating additional revenue for the online giant at the expense of consumers, the region’s destinations, hotels and employees. Commissions levied on staff tips by the online travel agency Booking.com have been…

France and Germany, along with The Nature Conservancy, have pledged over $45 million in contributions to the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) to increase resources for biodiversity conservation. During last month’s CBF Annual Meeting in Antigua, Ulrike Metzger, division head of regional development policy, Central America, Caribbean and Mexico for the German Federal Ministry for Economic…

St. Maarten hotel association executive Wyb Meijer, Aruban guest experience supervisor Berlinda Engelhardt and Puerto Rican security supervisor Luis de Jesus were named among three Caribbean tourism industry stakeholders who have exemplified excellence across the region’s bread and butter industry. Meijer, executive director of the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), was named the…

The USVI Hotel and Tourism Association via the association’s Education and Training Fund awarded a $2,500 scholarship to Omaira Rachid during a ceremony this week. Rachid plans to attend the University of the Virgin Islands, majoring in hotel management and minoring in marketing. “I would personally like to thank the Hotel and Tourism Association for…

Leading tourism stakeholders from the Bahamas and St. Lucia took top honors at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) annual Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF) Awards Celebration before a packed house last week at the Hyatt Regency Miami. Hotels, attractions and tourism stakeholder organizations from throughout the Caribbean were evaluated in four categories…