Activities in the Caribbean tourism industry are unduly subjected to additional taxes not found in other sectors, such as room tax, import tax, and departure tax, according to the CHA.

The Caribbean Hotel Foundation is accepting applications for Caribbean hospitality employees, educators, and students wishing to pursue studies or professional development courses related to the tourism industry.

The positive contributions of hotels to the local economies in the Caribbean are grossly underestimated - and yet still present great opportunities for further optimizing its benefits. This, according to the final report of a recent study of “The Caribbean Accommodation Sector as a Consumer of Locally-Produced Goods and Services and Contributor to Government Revenues.”

Anthony Bowen, managing director of the Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort and Spa, in Gros Islet, St. Lucia, was honored by his peers, at the 2006 Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC), with the 2006 Golden Conch Award as Caribbean Hotelier of the Year. The prestigious award recognizes superior hotel management, as well as the ability to nurture the intricate elements that lay the foundation of success, not only for a specific property, but the Caribbean hospitality industry at large.

Berthia Parle, the outgoing St. Lucian President of the Caribbean Hotel Association, says she can´t wait for Air Jamaica to increase its service between New York and St. Lucia from three flights weekly to a daily service. Mrs. Parle, who hosted an Air Jamaica media group for a Caribbean lunch at her popular Bay Gardens Hotel, said the return of Air Jamaica to St. Lucia was a phenomenal development for the country and its tourism industry.

The Caribbean Hotel Association and PRO€INVEST, an agency of the Center for Development Enterprise of the European Union, announced the launch of a research study to gauge how much the Caribbean tourism accommodation sector spends on locally-provided goods and services, including its tax contribution to governments. “Until now, there had been no available data that quantifies and validates how the expenditures of Caribbean lodging establishments find their way into the local economy by supporting directly the wellbeing of workers, local entrepreneurs, professionals, small, medium and large corporations, and other economic sectors –even government revenues that help finance the running of the country,” said Berthia Parle, MBE, President of CHA.