CHA Marketplace 2008 - Bahamas Allen Chastenet is a seasoned veteran of Caribbean tourism who’s dedicated a considerable part of his life to help the region’s travel industry grow. Now he’s jumped on the public-sector bandwagon and from his position as tourism minister of St. Lucia, Mr. Chastenet is not only advocating for his homeland’s development, but also for the advance of all other Caribbean islands. In this exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, Mr. Chastenet -a boldface name in both the CHA and the CTO- spells out his thoughts on a number of hot issues related to tourism in St. Lucia and the Caribbean.

CHA Marketplace 2008 - Bahamas Allen Chastenet is a seasoned veteran of Caribbean tourism who’s dedicated a considerable part of his life to help the region’s travel industry grow. Now he’s jumped on the public-sector bandwagon and from his position as tourism minister of St. Lucia, Mr. Chastenet is not only advocating for his homeland’s development, but also for the advance of all other Caribbean islands. In this exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, Mr. Chastenet -a boldface name in both the CHA and the CTO- spells out his thoughts on a number of hot issues related to tourism in St. Lucia and the Caribbean.

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.

by Jose Carlos de Santiago CHA Caribbean Marketplace 2008 - Bahamas Aruba wrapped up 2007 with good-looking numbers on the board as far as tourism is concerned and prospects for the now-unfolding 2008 can’t look any better. As Aruba is willing to split the outbound travel markets on wiser shares in an effort to cut down on the heavy reliance it has on the U.S., more Spanish hotel companies are planning to open properties on the island. In this exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, tourism Minister Edison Briesen talks about his country’s projects on the road ahead.

Although Richard Skerritt, St. Kitts’ minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture, is delighted to announce that most objectives for 2007 have been met, he will not lay the “wicket” down just yet, months after hosting the Cricket Cup.

Q.- Following your long tenure at the helm of CTO, when did you actually join LIAT? A.- I left CTO at the end of 2004 and commenced here (at LIAT). As a matter of fact, I was on leave before I left CTO and I actually started here in August 2004, so it’s just three years that have gone by.