THE BARBADOS Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) must be repositioned to take the industry forward.
New chairman of the 54-year-old organisation, Roseanne Myers, is determined to do just that, has hit the ground running.
In an interview after a courtesy call on the executive management of the Nation Publishing Co. Limited on Monday, Myers acknowledged the “excellent job” done in the past by the umbrella body. However, she said new dynamics in the industry demanded a change in the way the BHTA operated.
It had to see the industry in its totality, taking into account the contribution of all stakeholders who spanned the hotel and non-hotel sector, she explained.
Saying her first job was to “re-engage” with the membership and to do “institutional strengthening”, Myers added that “there is a general malaise in Barbados and we have to engage our members to put more into the BHTA”.
As the first non-hotelier to head the BHTA, Myers, who is general manager of Atlantis Submarines, expressed concern about pending issues facing the board such as the employment rights legislation and the Shops Act and their effect on the hotel sector.
The red tape still standing in the way of accessing Government’s concessions granted to the sector was a matter of concern to be addressed with some urgency.
Marketing was another area for attention, with Myers saying the time had come for the luxury hotel sector to look to the United States market to boost occupancy. (GC)