CARIBBEAN: Tourism Commissioner Recognised Stateside

For Immediate Release
 
Contact: Bevan Springer 201 861-2056
              bevanspringer@nj.rr.com
 
Photograph of USVI Tourism Commissioner Pamela Richards available at: 
http://www.mediaexchange.info/tmp/richardspam.jpg
 
TOURISM COMMISSIONER RECOGNISED STATESIDE
 
MIAMI (September 14, 2003) – United States Virgin Islands (USVI) Commissioner 
of Tourism, Pamela Richards has been named one of the most influential 
African-American managers in the hospitality, meetings and tourism industry 
by the California-based Black Meetings & Tourism magazine.
 
“We’re not surprised,” said Simón Suárez, President of the Caribbean Hotel 
Association, who hailed Commissioner Richards for her leadership role in 
galvanizing public sector support for the Life Needs the Caribbean regional 
marketing initiative.
 
“She has played a pioneering role by showing her Caribbean colleagues the 
critical link between tourism and regional cooperative prosperity,” Suárez 
said of Richards, who was one of the region’s first tourism executives to tie 
her destination to the regional program. “She has a strong passion for the 
development of the US Virgin Islands and the wider Caribbean region which is 
inspiring and infectious.”
 
The Commissioner will be featured for the third consecutive year in the 
magazine's special October/November issue, highlighting an elite group of 
black hospitality and tourism managers. "I am honored to be named to this 
prestigious list of African-American managers," Richards said. "This personal 
distinction is a tribute to the reputable marketing efforts that the 
Department of Tourism has achieved in the increasingly competitive tourism 
environment.”
 
She says of the Life Needs the Caribbean initiative, “I believe the campaign 
was very successful in branding the Caribbean. Indeed, any effort after 10 
years of silence would have made a difference, but I think that this one was 
well executed." Commissioner Richards was especially pleased with the success 
of the internet marketing phase of the program, and has been able to see the 
increased interest in the US Virgin Islands from public exposure to the 
campaign’s booking engine www.GoCaribbean.com.
 
The Caribbean Hotel Association Charitable Trust (CHACT) is a successful 
public/private sector alliance, uniting major hotel chains, airlines and 
credit card companies with the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, CARICOM 
(Caribbean Community) and non-CARICOM nations. Last fall, CHACT launched the
multi-million dollar Life Needs the Caribbean campaign to market and promote 
the region as a single destination.
 
CARICOM heads of government have reiterated the importance of the tourism 
sector to the Caribbean economy and they recently reaffirmed the need to 
establish a Sustainable Tourism Development Fund to facilitate the 
implementation of a strategic plan for tourism, and supported the effort to 
mobilize the resources for the Fund.
 
www.GoCaribbean.com allows the region to play a full role in the entire 
distribution channel of Caribbean vacations, rather than just focusing on the 
delivery of a product. Consumers and travel agents alike can now book 
airlines, hotels and other Caribbean properties at bulk or heavily discounted 
rates.
 
Bookings on www.gocaribbean.com currently cover both vacation packages (air 
and hotel) and hotel room nights. Reservations also can be made by telephone 
using the 1-888-CARIBBEAN toll free service. Three hundred and ninety-seven 
(397) hotels, offering more than 86,000 rooms, are available for bookings.
 
Eighteen destinations participate in CHACT's marketing campaign: Antigua and 
Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, 
Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. 
Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the 
United States Virgin Islands.
 
Travel agents in North America can earn website commissions and toll-free 
customer support for agents is available at 1-888-724-6413.
 
For further information, contact CHACT Program Director Chris Sharpless Jr. 
at 305 443-3040 or csharpless@chahotels.com .
 
ENDS