Enrique de Marchena
Kaluche from the Domincan Republic is the new president of the
Caribbean Hotels Association for the 2008-2010 term, succeeding
Peter Odle of Barbados.
De Marchena
Kaluche, a lawyer by training, is the second Dominican to hold that
post. The first was Simon Suarez.
De Marchena Kaluche has been head of the Duty Free
Shops Association of the Dominican Republic since 1998 and
previously served as president of the Dominican Republic's National Association of Hotels &
Restaurants from 2004 to 2006 and as president of the
D.R.'s Tourist Promotion Council from 2002 to 2004. He also served
as a vice president of the CHA.
The announcement
came during the annual Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Conference
(formerly the Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference, or CHIC) taking
place in Miami through June 19.
This year's
conference has been streamlined into a two-day affair with greater
emphasis on education, following feedback of CHA members regarding
their expectations for the annual convention.
The conference
agenda focuses on 10 business development sessions that focus on
the rising mixed-use accommodations segment of the hospitality
industry as well as the business sector.
CHTC 2007
incorporates the annual regional Taste of the Caribbean culinary
competition with 13 national teams from across the region competing
in various categories. The competing teams are from Anguilla,
Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curacao,
Grenada, Puerto Rico, St. Martin/Maarten, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and the U.S. Virgin
Islands.
A third component
of CHTC 2007 is a trade exposition. For details, visit www.caribbeanhotelassociation.com.
To contact reporter Gay Nagle Myers, send e-mail to [email protected].