US Virgin Islands Hotel & Tourism Association

Tommy Gala Committee: The USVI Hotel and Tourism Association is excited to invite you to join us on Nov. 14 for the 14th Annual Tommy Star Awards and Gala! We hope our members took the opportunity to acknowledge their outstanding employees with the highest tourism industry honor in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a Tommy Star Award. Winners will be announced at the gala in the following categories: Airline Associate of the Year; Attraction/Activity Associate of the Year; Hospitality Support Service Associate of the Year; Public Service Representative of the Year (Government); Restaurant Associate of the Year; Retail Associate of the Year; Taxi Operator of the Year; Hotel Supervisor of the Year; and Hotel Associate of the Year.

In addition, we wish to congratulate Dr. David Hall, president of the University of the Virgin Islands, and recipient of the Tommy Star Award of Excellence. Dr. Hall has taken tremendous strides for higher education in the territory and has been an integral part of UVI’s Hospitality Degree Program. We look forward to recognizing him at the gala on Nov. 14.

Who else do you want to see at the Tommy Star Awards and Gala? Learn about former winners and see what it takes to be a Tommy Star with our Tommy Star Spotlights!

And don’t forget to sign up to be a sponsor! Levels of sponsorship are as follows:

Tommy Star $5,000

  • Full page color ad in the event booklet
  • Recognition in all event advertising material
  • Recognition from podium
  • Table for ten at the event with priority seating
  • Sponsorship noted on video rotation
  • Signage

Tommy Gold $2,500

  • Half page ad in the event booklet
  • Recognition in all event promotion
  • Recognition from podium
  • Five tickets to the event
  • Sponsorship noted on video rotation

Tommy Silver $1,000

  • 1/4 page ad in the event booklet
  • Two tickets to the event
  • Sponsorship noted on video rotation

Tommy Bronze $500

  • 1/8 page ad in the event booklet (business card size)
  • One ticket to the event
  • Sponsorship noted on video rotation

To become a sponsor of this esteemed event, click here to download the Sponsorship Agreement form and return via fax to 340-774-4993 by Oct. 2. If you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to contact the association’s office at 340-774-6835.

CMI: The Department of Tourism has opted to re-launch the VINICE promotion as it had an extremely successful first run. The CMI committee and DOT are working with several hotels and villas for the relaunch. We are testing direct booking as a distribution source for DOT packages. The program wilVI Coupons Adl be reviewed at the end of the booking/travel window to determine the department’s ability to offer Direct Booking Promotions in the future.

Membership Committee: The Membership Committee hosted a General Membership Networking Reception on Aug. 19 at Coral World Ocean Park. About 40 members and potential members joined us for wine, courtesy of Bellows International, networking and fun prizes! Members mingled and discussed their experiences with the association, enjoying a relaxing opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions about USVIHTA. Thank you to those members who joined us!

We also want to remind members of our partnership with iVeew, Inc., a leading provider of mobile solutions to the travel and hospitality industry, led by Tom Griffin, a long-time supporter of the Virgin Islands. Griffin has offered an opportunity for us to be one of the first major island destinations to provide our visitors with the ability to utilize their Smartphones to connect your business.

We were able to negotiate a lower sign up rate from the normal $500/year and $.25 cents per download coupon to $200/year and $.10 cents per download coupon. In addition, we capped the $.10 cents per download to a maximum spend of $200.00 per month.

Current advertisers in the airport booth will have the first opportunity to participate. For more information, please contact Tom Griffin at tom@iveew.co or Shamari Skelton at skelton003@gmail.com. To speak to someone right away or participate, contact Nicole Friday at the HTA office at nicole@usvhta.com. Click here and here for additional information.