Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will deliver the keynote address June 26 at the Caribbean Hotel Association´s upcoming Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC). CHIC is set for June 26 to 29 at the Hyatt Regency Miami, the first time the event will be held outside the Caribbean region.

The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) has released the findings of an economic impact study of the new United States passport regulation that will require US citizens visiting the Caribbean to be in possession of a valid US passport to re-enter the US, effective January 1, 2006. The study, conducted by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on behalf of CHA, considered the market share of visitors from the United States to the Caribbean and the percentage of those visitors that do not use a valid US passport and examined these figures against total visitor exports earnings in the region, which total $20.7 billion.

To help Caribbean hoteliers stay on top of the game, Global Booking Solutions and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) have signed a strategic alliance that will enable CHA member hotels to offer clients the ability to book hotel, air, and land, in real time, through the hotel´s own website. Global Booking Solutions enables Caribbean small, medium, and large hotels to provide customers the ability to buy their complete vacation package without ever leaving the hotel´s website during the booking process.

The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and American Express invite editors, producers, writers, and all other journalists to submit their work for the third annual Caribbean Tourism Media Awards program, with the aim of raising regional awareness about the impact of tourism, by fostering excellence in tourism reporting in the Caribbean.

Buying power is another very specific need of Caribbean hotels, small and independent properties in particular, and thus it will be an important consideration for holding the Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC 2005) in Miami, Florida, the first time ever this event is taking place outside the Caribbean. Miami is the industry´s buying capital and it enjoys great access from Caribbean destinations, which makes it convenient and affordable for Caribbean hoteliers and suppliers to attend, said Barbadian hotelier Peter Odle, 1st vice president of the Caribbean Hotels Association and chairman of the CHIC Planning Committee, as well as the CHA Membership Committee.

The Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference 2005 (CHIC 2005) CHIC 2005 will offer the features of a world-class event, such as a session entitled “The Strongest Link-International Industry Benchmarking,” where recognized hoteliers from destinations in the Caribbean and abroad will discuss the latest developments in hotels globally, as a way to bring the regional industry up to date with innovative and best practices world-wide, the organizers have highlighted.