CHA Unveils Business Opportunities in the Caribbean for European Impresarios

Alec Sanguinetti, director-general and CEO of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), said this week that the region’s private sector is playing an increasingly bigger role in the development of the local travel industry. Mr. Sanguinetti uttered these remarks during a recent consulting meeting on merger and business opportunities for the tourist sector that gathered representatives from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Rim.

Mr. Sanguinetti’s remarks served to highlight the vast array of investment possibilities that the Caribbean Basin has to offer, not only for building new hotels and remodeling others, but also for spending money in such areas as agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure and attractions.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Caribbean Hotel Association signed an agreement within the framework of the 2003 CARIFORUM Meeting that includes the implementation of an European Union-sponsored €8 million joint program for the private and public sectors to boost up tourism in the region.

This is the first time the European Union earmarks funds for the Caribbean private sector to spur the advance of the local leisure industry.