US Virgin Islands Hotel & Tourism Association
Environmental Committee: The Environmental Committee met in Nov. to discuss several ongoing initiatives. We are excited about the upcoming Blue Flag flag raising ceremonies on Dec. 1 at Emerald Beach and Great Bay on St. Thomas, and Green Cay Beach at Tamarind Reef and the Palms at Pelican Cove on St. Croix, as well as the two marinas receiving certification and reaching their five year milestone, Crown Bay Marina on St. Thomas and Green Cay Marina on St. Croix. We hope you will join us at one of the many locations to congratulate all of the Blue Flag recipients.
Additionally, Valerie Peters met with Commissioner Sharon McCollum and she is interested in the Eco-schools program. We hope to begin meeting with the Department of Education soon to launch the program in the beginning of 2017.
We partnered with the Department of Education, the Department of Tourism, the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority and WTJX to run contests in schools under the Clean Places Happy Faces slogan. DOE and DOT will run an eco-friendly bag give away with K-6 grades and a poster contest. We plan to work with middle and high schools for our contest, with the finalist presenting at the STEM fair in May.
The committee will meet again in Jan. 2017.
Advocacy Committee: The Advocacy Committee sent out letters of congratulations to senators who will serve on the 32nd Legislature. Click here to view election results. The committee is organizing a meet-and-greet event for Feb. 2017 with the board.
CMI: The CMI committee met in Nov. to hold its annual strategic planning session. The committee reviewed the 2016 goals set at last year’s meeting, and discussing results and strategizing and budgeting for 2017. The budget will include advertising opportunities, tradeshows we plan to attend, social media outreach and growth, events such as the Destination Symposium, the Airport Reservation Center and more. If you are interested in participating in the Cooperative Marketing Initiative (CMI), please contact the HTA office at 340-774-6835.