Q & A with Enrique de Marchena, President-elect of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA)

CHA Caribbean Marketplace 2008 - Bahamas

The Caribbean Hotel Association -the region’s leading organization among hoteliers- is trying to put a new spin on the way things are run and many hotel chains from around the world, especially Spanish companies with an increasingly mighty presence in the Caribbean, are pinning their hopes on the election of Dominican-born Enrique de Marchena as the right man to spearhead a genuinely true integration process. In an exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, Mr. de Marchena explains what his vision and plans for the region will be once he takes over the reins of CHA in June.

Q.- In June 2007, CHA made the decision to visit a number of European countries, including Spain. That was the first time such an action has ever happened- at least for the Spanish market. What do you make of that move and what are you planning to do in that respect once you take over as CHA President in June?
A.- CHA made that decision based on the need to forge integration between Spain-based hotel chains investing in the Caribbean and CHA, the organization that stands for the interests of all hoteliers in the region. The original ideal was begotten by CHA president Peter Odle and he personally asked me to take the lead in this effort. The first such meeting took place back in September last year, in Palma de Majorca, and it featured such boldface names as Gabriel Escarrel, Miguel Fluxa, Abel Matute, Pablo Piñero and many other heavyweights with strong interests and investments in the Caribbean. And the outcomes couldn’t honestly be any better.

I must say Spanish hoteliers are now more aware of their role in the advance of tourism in the Caribbean, especially at a time when as many as 25,000 or 30,000 guestrooms in the region are in the hands of Spanish hotel chains. As a result of that meeting, those Spanish hoteliers founded Iberohotel, a non-for-profit organization that gathers all major hotel groups from Spain with investments in the Caribbean. And they elected Adolfo Fabieres as their first chairman.

Mr. Fabieres has already contacted CHA and has told us about his interest to forge a real integration in the region. He even mentioned his intention to be a member of CHA’s Board of Directors in the near future and I must inform you right now that his request has already been accepted by the CHA’s Executive Committee. CHA also made the decision to form a commission –headed by me- just to follow up on this particular integration effort between CHA and hotel chains from Spain, like Meliá, Bahia Principe, Iberostar, Fiesta and others.

I’m also proud to inform you that CHA and CTO –the Caribbean Tourism Organization- will be holding their joint annual meeting in Washington DC in the month of June and the integration issue will be on the table in the U.S. capital, something that’s very much in sync with the interest of Spain-based hoteliers to foster tourism in the Caribbean. We’re planning to hold talks with Caribbean ambassadors and ministers in that meeting in Washington in a bid to put tourism in the front burner.

Q.- To the best of our knowledge, as much as 44 percent of all hotel rooms in the Caribbean are now owned by Spanish companies. Is that much true?
A.- I don’t know if that’s the exact figure. There are over 120,000 guestrooms registered in the CHA logbooks right now, but I’d rather say the amount of hotel rooms in the hands of Spanish companies is in the neighborhood of 20 percent. And believe me, that’s no small fry.

Q.- Does that percentage include properties in Mexico?
A.- Absolutely, that counts in both the Mexican Caribbean and Cuba.

Q.- How are you planning to set your priorities as soon as you take over the CHA presidency? How will you view your attendance to such major travel fairs like Spain’s FITUR?
A.- I’ll be personally attending the FITUR fair in Spain, just as I’ve done in recent editions. I think from 2009 on, CHA should press harder to make its attendance to the Madrid travel tradeshow really count. The organization needs to have a more hands-on participation in that event and I’ll personally see to that from my new post.

Q.- What other policies and strategies will you be carrying out come June?
A.- There’s no doubt that the strength of an organization like CHA hinges on a strong membership. Therefore, I strongly believe that CHA ought to send a louder and clearer message, buttress its commitment with its own membership and expand that membership in the same breath. I think the first step forward toward that goal was the September trip to Palma de Majorca and the efforts to bring in the Spanish hotel chains to the CHA membership.

A second goal in mind has to do with CHA no longer being the Caribbean Hotel Association, but the Caribbean Hospitality Association. That would include hotel and real-estate projects alike, as well as other projects linked to other tourism sectors. I’m looking forward to that.

Q.- Will CHA continue organizing and sponsoring the Caribbean Investment Conference?
A.- Absolutely. This year’s edition will be taking place in Trinidad & Tobago in the month of May. This time around we’ll be celebrating the event’s tenth anniversary, the birthday of a conference that’s been so successful and is slated to become far more successful as times goes by.

Q.- Among those Spanish hotel groups that are not members of CHA, like RIU, for instance, are you laying out any specific policy to deal with them and reel them in?
A.- I’m not personally a close acquaintance of Luis and Carmen Riu, yet I know both of them and I’ve even jawed it up with Carmen from time to time. I believe Spanish hotel chains must see the benefits that their belonging to CHA actually brings about. First of all, they should cotton on to the fact that I come from the country where they built their very first hotels in, that I’m a Dominican man who’s been voted to the presidency of CHA. That’s certainly a step ahead in the right direction and for them this must be a reason to be very proud and to step up the integration process. In this respect, I intend to sit down with RIU and other hotel chains that have invested in the Caribbean and have not yet registered as CHA members. I hope they’ll jump on the CHA bandwagon as soon as possible.