2009 Annual General Meeting Features Keynote Speaker from CHTA

Press Release: ANGUILLA, BRITISH WEST INDIES, Tuesday, 28th July, 2009

"Regional Tourism at Risk of Losing Edge” – Mr Alec Sanguinetti, CD, Director General and CEO of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association was warmly received as keynote speaker for the Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association (AHTA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) at CuisinArt Resort & Spa on Thursday, 23rd July 2009.

Over 50 members of the AHTA alongside His Excellency Governor Alistair Harrison and invited guests from Government gathered at CuisinArt Resort on Thursday to hear Mr Alec Sanguinetti present the keynote speech as well as the AHTA President’s Report of activities for the financial year 2008–2009 and to enjoy a cocktail reception in a beautiful setting outside Café Mediterraneo. The reception and meeting venue were courtesy of AHTA Accommodation Member and sponsor CuisinArt Resort & Spa.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) began with a welcome and adoption of the agenda and protocol introduced by Ms Trudy Nixon, exiting Executive Director of the Association. This was followed by remarks from Governor Harrison who spoke about his role as Governor and how it impacted on tourism. He commented about his first impression of the tourist industry in Anguilla and the high quality of the product that he had not seen anywhere else, which he described as spectacular.

Mrs Sherille Hughes, Manager of Paradise Cove Resort, President of the AHTA and 3rd Vice President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association – read extracts from the President‘s Report. She reported “the financial year 2008–2009 was a period of sustainable growth following the rapid growth we had seen in the Association for the previous two years. Membership of the Association continued to increase and our membership remained committed – showing considerable financial and organisational support to the organisation.” She mentioned the challenges of the global economic crisis and that Hurricane Omar in October 2008 had proved ”to us that we had learnt a lot from Lenny and Louis; that generally, we are well prepared and have on the whole built our properties well.” Mrs Hughes referred members to the President’s Report of 2009 for the full list of AHTA achievements and activities for 2008–2009. To conserve paper in support of the Green Initiative, the report will soon be available for viewing on the AHTA website at www.ahta.ai.

After the President’s Report was presented, members and guests listened to some words from the dynamic keynote speaker, Mr Alec Sanguinetti, Commander (CD), Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association. In Mr Sanguinetti’s speech, he outlined the approach that Hotel and Tourism Associations should take towards tourism in the Caribbean region stating “Caribbean tourism is in danger of being no longer competitive and will get worse if action is not taken.” He spoke about the challenges of access for air travel to the islands as well as creating a regional tourism marketing fund and a media campaign highlighting the importance of tourism to the local economy. Mr Sanguinetti gave congratulations for the Anguilla National Culinary Team’s recent success at the TASTE of the Caribbean Culinary Competition.

A brief presentation on the membership survey was conducted by Mrs Melinda Goddard, Principal of ClienTel. She gave a review of the strengths and areas of improvement for the Association and was pleased to report that there was an increase in satisfaction from the members. There was a prize drawing for members who participated in the survey, which was won by Mr Fred Thompson, Manager of Carimar Beach Club and who also served on the AHTA Board of Directors.

Mrs Sherille Hughes, President of the AHTA and Mr Delroy Lake, General Manager of KU and Vice President of the AHTA then chaired the elections for new positions on the AHTA Board of Directors (BOD). Three directors retired from a 3-year period of service: Mrs Janine Edwards – Sunset Homes, Mr Fred Thompson – Carimar Beach Club and Mr Stephane Zaharia – CuisinArt Resort & Spa. The following candidates were nominated for election: Janine Edwards, Gary Thulander – Cap Juluca Hotel, Bart Van Deventer – Malliouhana Hotel & Spa and Stephane Zaharia. There was a membership ballot and the three officers elected to serve on the ATHA BOD for three years were Mrs Edwards, Mr Van Deventer and Mr Zaharia.

The proceedings continued with a farewell presentation by the AHTA President to the existing Executive Director, Ms Trudy Nixon. Sherille Hughes remarked on the accomplishments that Ms Nixon had achieved for the AHTA during her three years and gave her kudos for the work that she had done. There were many gifts of lunch, dinner, 2-nights hotel stay, spa treatment and other donations presented as a way of saying thanks and goodbye to Trudy Nixon. Afterwards the new Executive Director, Ms Kay Ferguson was welcomed and introduced by Sherille Hughes. Ms Ferguson gave a few remarks stating “It was an honour to be appointed in this position… Some of you I know already and I look forward to meeting and serving all of you.”

In conclusion Mrs Gilda Gumbs Samuels, Membership and Events Manager of the AHTA presented an incentive prize giveaway to the first members in each category to pay their annual membership dues for 2008–2009. She concluded the meeting with an acknowledgement and a vote of thanks. Finally, the guests gathered on the beautiful lawn outside Café Mediterraneo and enjoyed cocktails and most delicious hors d’oeuvres.

The AHTA would like to sincerely thank the following for their support of the 2009 Annual General Meeting: CuisinArt Resort & Spa for sponsoring the cocktail reception, the management and staff of CuisinArt for providing the wonderful venue and set up; His Excellency the Governor Alistair Harrison for his attendance; Mr Alec Sanguinetti, CD for his keynote speech and support from the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association; Mrs Melinda Goddard for conducting and presenting results of the Membership Survey; Da’Vida Restaurant, Frangipani Hotel, Anguilla Rums and Straw Hat Restaurant for providing prize giveaways; CuisinArt, Black Orchid and Mrs Jo-anne Mason for event support; and the Press and Media for providing public coverage – Mrs Brenda Carty, Correspondent for the Daily Herald in St Maarten, Mr Nat Hodge, Editor of The Anguillian, Ms Felicia Hennis, Reporter from Radio Anguilla and Dr. Elinor Garely, Reporter for eTurboNews.com.

Continued thanks to the membership for their unwavering support and commitment to the AHTA.

The AHTA membership comprises over 160 hotels, villas and allied members. It is Anguilla’s oldest and largest private Association and is wholly funded by membership subscriptions and fundraising events. It’s motto is ‘strengthening Anguilla’s tourism through association.