Category Archives: Caribbean

Most every culture has an iconic street food thats easy to eat with your hands. In Mexico, its tacos; Italy is famous for its pizza by the slice. And empanada is king on the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Jamaica.

These half-moon meat pies with the crimped edges can be spicy or savory, and depending on the country of origin (they also are popular in South America and Puerto Rico), the type of pastry and filling varies. Theyre always delicious, and no more so than on their biggest party day of the year National Empanada Day, which is Saturday.

Pirata Caribbean Cuisine & Rum Bar off Market Square, Downtown, takes its empanadas seriously. So seriously, that product developer Jodie McCann spent more than a year fine-tuning the recipes for the four varieties offered on its menu.

Its all about the dough, she says. A fried, Cuban-style Beef Picadillo empanada, for example, gets its crisp from lard, while the tender pocket holding a scoop of stew-like pollo (chicken) fricassee is bound with butter, making it reminiscent of a pie crust. A vegan empanada stuffed with a medley of fresh pepper, squash and cremini mushroom is made with coconut oil and tinted red with smoked paprika. And the Jamaican beef variety perfumed with a complex blend of fresh spice and herbs is colored yellow with curry powder and turmeric.

For every version, we experimented many, many times to get the best results, says Ms. McCann, a self-taught baker who holds a degree in biochemistry and worked in a lab doing genetic screening on newborns before coming to work in 1997 for Pirata owner Ron Molinaro, who also owns the Il Pizzaiolo restaurants in Mt. Lebanon and Marshall, and Pizzuvio, a fast-casual restaurant next door to Pirata.

Before Pirata opened last fall, he said, a fresh empanada made with love was tough to find in Pittsburgh. Kaya in the Strip did a good enough job, but they arent interpreted the way I would interpret them, he says.

His favorite were the hand-made, fresh-baked ones served at Julias Empanadas in Washington, D.C. He happened to be eating them out of a brown bag at 3 a.m. back in 2011 when he came up with the idea of opening a rum bar. He also was a huge fan of the Jamaican patties stuffed with spicy ground beef at Miss Lillys Variety, a pastry shop in New York City. So when Pirata moved from concept to reality, he sent his chefs in that direction.

Ms. McCann got a hold of one of Miss Lillys unbaked Jamaican patties and carefully deconstructed it. I remember the dough, she says, tinted yellow with turmeric and super-elastic. It broke every rule it was supposed to follow, but it was magic.

Mr. Molinaro also brought chef Douglas Rodriguez, known as the Godfather of nuevo-Latino cuisine, on as a consultant from Miami.

Chef Josh Ross, who joined the staff in December, guesses the restaurant makes upward of 500 empanadas a week using a dough sheeter, and its the slow season, he adds. Each five-inch circle is hand-folded after being stuffed with a scoop of filling, and baked or fried to order.

Properly crimping the edges, or whats known as making the repulgue, is integral to the empanada-making process, says Ms. McCann, in that it serves two purposes: It keeps the juicy fillings snug inside the pastry and it also gives diners a visual clue to the ingredients. For instance, theres a scalloped edge on the chicken empanada while the Cuban variety gets a simple crimping with a fork.

For National Empanada Day on Saturday, Pirata will offer a flight of all four empanadas regularly $4 each for the special price of $12.

Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1419 or on Twitter @gtmckay.

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A half-moon taste of the Caribbean on National Empanada Day - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The MSC Divina, cruise vessel.

In early May, Weight Watchers International Inc. is hosting a seven-night, wellness-themed Caribbean cruise aboard the 4,300-passenger MSC Divina, sailing from Miami.

Yeshang with us, herea company dedicated to weight loss is joining forces with a purveyor of expansive buffets to market cruising as a viable vacation for those aiming to shed pounds. And many, many people are battling bulges unsuccessfully, with more than a third of Americans medically obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As Weight Watchers transformsfrom a pure weight-loss enterpriseinto a health-and-wellness company, the idea of embarking on its first cruise was a logical thing to do, said Ryan Nathan, the companys vice president of products, licensing, and e-commerce.

We did a lot of research, and we looked at our member base, and our member really is the cruising base, Nathan said. The typical Weight Watchers member is female, from40 to 60 years old, with an average household income slightly above the U.S. average. The cruise is not slim-down camp, he said, and the company is setting no goals for members in terms of whether the trip is aimed at losing weight, maintaining weight, or keeping any gain from the cruise to a minimum.

Despite the abundance of food, drink, and sloth that mass-market cruise lines sell, a week in the Caribbean also offers the opportunity to take the opposite approach: Sleep well, exercise more, and peruse more menu options, with more relaxed lunches and dinners than most people faceat home. The ship also offers members an exercise bicycle that faces the sunrise anda jogging track on the open deck, said Rick Sasso, chairman of MSC North America.

Its a natural for us to go on this endeavor to show our members: Hey, you can have fun and eat great food, Nathan said. And you dont have to feel like diet is deprivation.

The company, ofwhich entertainer Oprah Winfrey owns nearly 15 percent, reformulated its business focus in late 2015 with a Beyond the Scale campaign that aims to help customers shift their mindset from weight loss to overall fitness, encouraging everything from becoming less sedentary to eating better. New York-based Weight Watchers said its members lost 15 percent more weight in the first two months following the new program, compared to results with the prior program.

Cruising is also an effective marketing tool for a publicly traded company that has repeatedly sought to reinvent itself amid the vicissitudes of both the equity and weight-loss markets.The new efforts to broaden Weight Watchers market appeal startedin late 2015, several months after the former talk show host acquired her stake and became a director, with plans to promote the company via her celebrity and her personal weight-loss efforts. Weight Watchers has credited Winfrey with helping spur new enrollments and stronger financial results; its stock has gained 39 percent this year.

Prices for the MSC cruise began at $945, and all of Weight Watchers 500-cabin bloc on the cruise has been sold, a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers said. MSC was stunned by how quickly half the Weight Watchers' block sold out, Sasso said. A second MSC-Weight Watchers cruise is planned for November, with additional sailings likely.

MSC is also offering menu options that will list Weight Watchers points values to help cruisers know whether their selections fit within their personal weight-control plans. Ive asked the entire organization here to embrace this, Sasso said in a telephone interview. Every aspectfrom our master chefs down to the waiters.

On board, Weight Watchers staff will host meetings for real-time guidance and support and present customized fitness programs, cooking demonstrations, and seminars from wellness experts. The week-long voyage will also have four ports of calls at whichpassengers can hike, snorkel, dive, and pursue other physical activities, Sasso said. The May Divina itinerary willstop in Jamaica; Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico; and the Bahamas.

I think this is more a perfect scenario than the other type of vacation that one can take, Sasso said, calling the cruise a controlled environment for Weight Watchers members. Were making our cruise products already have this wellness aspect. The May wellness-themed cruise, he said, is just an enhancement.

For Geneva-based MSC, and for suchlarger U.S. peers as Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., shifting the publics notion of cruising as an oceangoing gallery of gluttony to one of an upscale holiday that embraces fine dining and active lifestyles is critical to attracting a younger, more affluent demographic.The cruise industry of the 1980s, for example, is nothing like today's cruise lines offerings. The industry has been working feverishly to tout that message and to increase its customer base, with an estimated 25.3 million people expected to cruise this year, up from 15.8 million a decade ago.

Cruise ships also offer no more dietary vice than the average U.S. city, given anabundance of food and drink choices that are far from healthy, Sasso argued. That temptation is everywhere you go, he said. Unless you go to an isolated place in the jungle, youre going to have temptation everywhere.

The newer ships also devote increasing real estate to their spasa revenue source, to be sureand most have extensive gyms stocked with equipment, Sasso noted. When you have 20,000-square-foot spas on a cruise ship, that is unparalleled in the hotel industry, unless youre in some huge resort.

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For cruise lines, affinity groups of the wellness sort that Weight Watchers is heading also tend to mean higher revenues, and margins. The $945 minimum fare on MSC, for example, is higher than the company would otherwise command for many of its berths for the same week. Thats one reason for the proliferation of theme cruises, from Star Trek to country western music to a Holland America Line Alaska cruise focused on O, The Oprah Magazine, Winfreys monthly lifestyle periodical.

If a weight-control or sci-fi cruise seems extraordinarily niche-y, they get even more specialized. In November, starting at 799 ($852) per person, you can join TV actor David Hasselhoff in the Mediterranean for a five-day Official World Fan Cruise.

Not only will we be at sea, which is really sexy, were going to be rocking and rolling, Hasselhoff says in a videopitch for the cruise.

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The Caribbean Cruise That Protects You From Overeating ... - Bloomberg

MIAMI, FL, April 6, 2017 For the first time, Flow TV customers across the Caribbean will be able to see Caribbean themed content at their convenience via Flows on Demand platform. Through a partnership with CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD), customers will be able to access a variety of Caribbean films, from an extensive library every month onFlow On Demandin eight (8) Flow TV markets.

John Reid, CEO of Cable & Wireless, the operator of the consumer brandFlow, said: This is certainly a historic moment forCable & Wireless/Flow and our partners CaribbeanTales, as together we will deliver high quality, relevant Caribbean content that gives audience a refreshing perspective on Caribbean life. CEO and Founder ofCaribbeanTales, Frances-Anne Solomon, said, We are delighted to extend our relationship with Flow to a wide regional audience who will now enjoy the best films from the greatest filmmakers across the Caribbean.

In 2013, CTWD launched its own VOD platform, CaribbeanTales-TV, with ongoing global streaming of its Catalogue. Now, with Flows extensive VOD reach across eight (8) countries, this new partnership makes the Catalogues content more widely accessible to Caribbean audiences.

The VOD partnership was launched in February with four compelling films celebrating Trinidads iconic Carnival. In March the spotlight was on International Womens Day (March 8th), with four award-winning films by and about Caribbean women. There were two feature films:What My Mother Told Me,the ground-breaking, multi-award winning, dramatic narrative by CaribbeanTales CEO Frances-Anne Solomon one of the few films directed by a Trinidadian woman that deals with the survival strategies of middle-class Caribbean women. The other feature is Bahamian filmmaker Maria GovansRain,a young womans coming-of-age story. The two documentaries are:The Solitary Alchemist, directed by Mariel Brown, chronicling the life and work of Trinidadian artist Barbara Jardine; and Candice Lela-RolingsonsPositive and Pregnant, a seminal film about a woman who becomes pregnant and is HIV positive.

Aprils theme centers on the iconic Caribbean instrument developed in the backyard and streets of Port of Spain the steel pan. This months titles are:Atiba Williams Pan Prodigy, Trinidad and Tobagoniandirector Christopher Lairds film about theyoungest person ever to arrange for a steelband;Panomundo Part 1 The Evolution of Steel Pan, the first of atwo-part documentary by Charysse Tia Harper about the history of the steelpan and its global influence;Lets Play Panby Canadian director Ian Jones,which explores the evolution from the skin drum to the steel drum and its introduction to Toronto; and also the Frances-Anne Solomon-directedHeartbeat Season 1 Episode 9 Ian Jones, where Jones talks about How The Steel Pan Is Changing Lives.

Each month, Flow plans to release more CaribbeanTales films via Flow on Demand including one film for free!

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Flow airs Library of Caribbean focused content - St. Lucia Times Online News (press release)

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - One U.P. woman won a free trip to the Caribbean Wednesday morning from the Live with Kelly show.

Winner Teresa Parnell, a hair stylist at Reflections Hair Salon, enters the morning shows trivia contest every day. The way the contest works is that the shows hosts spin a wheel that lands on a specific location. They then call one of their viewers and ask them a trivia question. Its usually about something occurring on the previous days show.

If the viewer gets the question correct, they win an all-expense paid vacation.

Parnell correctly answered the question Wednesday morning, and won a trip for two to Barbados.

I had to like calm myself down. My heart - my heart's still pumping. I just, I'm flying high today, Parnell said. Yes, I am very lucky, but I also enter every single day. You have to - persistence, persistence, persistence - it paid off this time."

Parnell said both her and her sister enter the contest every, single day. Their agreement, if one of them wins the vacation, is theyll take the other with them. The two will take their Caribbean vacation next February.

For the latest News, Weather and Sports, tune into your TV6 News and FOX UP News.

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Marquette woman wins Caribbean vacation - UpperMichigansSource.com

The Pleasantville High School dance team performed routines in a different location than previous years: on the Royal Caribbeans Majesty of the Sea cruise ship.

The dance team performed four routines on the cruise and scored 91 out of 100 points, giving the dancers an award of the highest honor of superior gold.

Katelyn Sandholdt, a junior, has been dancing since she was 7-years-old. She said the dance team usually goes to Disney World, but decided this year to take the dance team on a cruise to the Caribbean.

The dance team typically do a performance trip every two years. Previously, the dance team has performed eight performances at Disney World.

I feel it was a good experience for us, because it was something different than going to Disney World which we did the previous times, Sandholdt said.

Sandholdt said performing on the cruise was different from what they are used to. The stage was smaller and rocky.

Pleasantville Dance coach Lois Turnage said the road crew dancers on the cruise said they call it ship rock.

To prepare for a smaller stage the dancers set out cones on the gym floor replicating the same size of the stage on the ship.

When we got there we had an hour to practice and get used to dancing on a ship, Sandholdt said.

Junior Kylee Vanhallen has been dancing for close to four years. She said she loved the experience and wasnt nervous having people watching her perform.

It is easier performing in front of people I have never met, Vanhallen said. So, I wasnt nervous.

She did say she was a little nervous performing on a stage that was considerably smaller.

Kayleigh Lewis, a junior, who has been dancing for three years, said it was fun because it was a different experience from Disney.

Its not something a lot of people get to do, Lewis said.

Lewis said it was a little nerve racking because she said they were all afraid they would get sick from being on the ship. She said that no one did and it was not that bad.

Taylor Ripperger, a sophomore, said she was a little nervous getting on a cruise ship, but was not nervous dancing in front of people on the cruise.

I have been dancing in front of people for a long time, Ripperger said. I have been dancing since I was 2.

Mikayla Clary a senior, has been dancing since she was 11-years-old.

Clary said she felt the dance group learned a lot dancing on a stage that is more confined from what they are used to, which is a gym floor.

Morgan Thorpe, a senior has been dancing since the age of 2. She said the experience was awesome.

The coolest thing was the different things you can do with dance, and the jobs people have on a cruise ship, Thorpe said.

The Royal Caribbean dance cast was doing a little recruiting amongst the dancers, saying, We would like to see you at one of our auditions, Turnage said.

Turnage said she was surprised at all the diversity on the ship. She was told there were 26 different countries on the ship.

The crowd of people who came to watch the dancers were from all over the world, Turnage said.

It was a wonderful way to represent Pleasantville and Iowa, Turnage continued. It was a broadening experience for the girls.

Ethan Goetz can be reached at reporter@pellachronicle.com or by calling the newsroom at 641-842-2155. Follow him on Twitter @Ethan_Goetz.

Ethan Goetz is a general assignment reporter for the Knoxville Journal-Express. He can be reached in the newsroom at 641-842-2155, ext. 19, or via email at reporter@pellachronicle.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ethan_Goetz.

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Pleasantville dancers perform on Caribbean cruise - Journal Express

The Blue Whale challenge includes self-harrm.

CASTRIES, St Lucia, Friday April 7, 2017 Authorities in the Caribbean are keeping a close eye on a social media game that encourages players to commit suicide.

Dubbed the Blue Whale Challenge, the game encourages participants to undertake dangerous dares and self-harm, such as cutting the shape of a whale into their bodies, watching horror movies and waking up at unusual hours to listen to sad music.

The game consists of 50 challenges, performed one daily, which are intended to lead the players to jump from the roof of a building or to hang themselves on day 50 in order to win.

It is believed to have led to 130 suicides in six months in Russia, where it originated.

Martinique has already issued an alert to schools about the game.

Authorities there have sent a letter to school principals in the French Overseas Territories urging principals to outlaw the game in schools.

It also called on the school heads to be vigilant in regard to young people placed in their care, especially those who appear to be most vulnerable.

St Lucias Prime Minister Allan Chastanet has expressed alarm at the game, urging the region to keep the game at bay.

Noting that there were no barriers on the Internet, he stressed that students must develop a strong self-esteem to withstand the things that are happening around them.

In addition to Russia, other countries have reported teen suicides allegedly linked to the game.

Similar warnings about the Blue Whale Challenge have been issued in European countries where authorities have urged parents to be alert to sudden changes in the behaviour of their children, especially if they are frequent users of social media.

Meantime, counter-offensive challenges are appearing on social networks, such as the Pink Whale Challenge that encourages participants to realize 50 positive challenges, including watching their favourite movie, making friends or helping somebody.

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Deadly Game: Caribbean Countries on Alert Over Online Suicide Game - Caribbean360.com (subscription)

Staff Reports jdnsports

The Caribbean Hut restaurant opened last year, but March 31 also was an exciting day at the Gaston Regional Chamber hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the business.

Caribbean Hut, located at 2924 E. Franklin Blvd., Gastonia, is one of thenewest members of Gaston Regional Chamber.

Owner Trevor Lewis wants to bring the Caribbean to Gastonia. Caribbean Hut has twoother locations in Charlotte. After the ribbon cutting guests were treated to samples from Caribbean Huts flavorful menu. Someof the samples included jerk chicken, curry chicken, brown stew chicken, rice and peas, and beef patties.

Lewis, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, got his first job as a chef at the Port of Call Hotel in Black River, St. Elizabeth, then moved on to the Jamaica Conference Center, and finally at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. While at the Jamaica PegasusHotel he won numerous awards in culinary competitions locally and in neighboring Caribbean Islands. Trevor migrated toBrooklyn and continued to work as a chef until he bought his first Jamaican style restaurant over 15 years ago inRosedale, Queens, New York. He and his family moved to Charlotte in search of a change of scenery for his sons.

After moving to the Charlotte area he saw a need for a family friendly Caribbean restaurant, and so the Caribbean Hut was born, he said.Starting with the first location at 9609-K N. Tryon St. in 2004, the Caribbean Hut brand has grown into threelocations.

One reason for the restaurants success is the authenticflavor that goes into each menu item that is served, he said.

Lewis said he has had many blessings in his life and for those reasons he believes that it is important to give back to those lessfortunate. He has been a source of inspiration and encouragement to many in the community. Lewis believes that it isimportant to give back to his community in any way he can. Giving a helping hand shows others that giving back is the best wayto build a community. By giving back it builds friendship amongst each other in hopes that each person helped will learn and share with others. It is very important to give back so that everyone can grow and build in the community, he said.

About the Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce. Established in 1913, the Gaston Regional Chamber is focused onproviding value to its more than 825 member businesses through a wide range of programs, events and services. The mission ofthe Gaston Regional Chamber is to champion an environment for healthy economic growth and quality job creation in Gaston County, and provide outstanding value for our members. For more information, visit http://www.gastonchamber.com.

For more information, call Gaston Regional Chamber at 704-864-2621 or email communications@gastonchamber.com

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Caribbean Hut brings island taste to Gastonia - Gaston Gazette

The seventh Caribbean Gaming Show and Summit will be staged in Montego Bay, St James, June 14 and 15, 2017.

"After an exhaustive market analysis and evaluation, it is clear that Jamaica is emerging as an important new market in the Caribbean region's gaming industry. Having the Caribbean Gaming Show and Summit in Montego Bay provides the opportunity to better understand the country potential of Jamaica, learn about the developments in the Caribbean's gaming industry, and forge new partnerships between the region's operators and global service providers" said Elizabeth Levia, of CGS Group, LLC who are producing the event in Jamaica.

CGS Group has confirmed a partnership with Jamaica's Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) for the staging of the Caribbean Gaming Show and Summit.

"We are delighted that Jamaica has been selected from among a group of highly competitive Caribbean countries for the seventh Caribbean Gaming Show and Summit. This event builds on our own annual Gaming Industry Summit, which we have hosted for the past three years for local industry stakeholders," said Carole Martinez-Johnson, acting executive director of the BGLC.

"The BGLC team looks forward to welcoming gaming industry executives from the region and beyond to Jamaica. It is our intention that (the event) provides invaluable networking opportunities and is a platform from which new strategic alliances and co-operative agreements can emerge," Martinez-Johnson said.

The programme of activities includes conference plenary sessions exploring key issues for the region's gaming industry such as de-risking and anti-money laundering, security, responsible gaming, as well as trends in the global gaming industry.

For the first time the Caribbean Gaming Show and Summit will include a special regulator's forum at which representatives of gaming regulatory organisations from around the region will explore issues related to regulating online gaming and sports betting.

The exhibition will link operators of gaming establishments with industry suppliers of products and services.

The Caribbean Gaming Show and Summit 2017 international sponsors include Aristocrat, Spin Inc, Golden Race, and Signature Gaming.

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Jamaica to host Caribbean Gaming Show and Summit - Jamaica Gleaner

The latest trailer for the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, just hit YouTube with a revealing detail that has OG fans losing their minds: Orlando Bloom makes a return appearance as the OG character Will Turner!

Last time we saw Will was in the third movie, At World's End, when his heart was carved out and placed in the Dead Man's Chest. This granted him immortality but forced him to take over as captain of the Flying Dutchman, able to venture ashore just once every 10 years. And boy, have we missed him in the series!

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In Dead Men Tell No Tales, ghost sailors led by Captain Salazar escape from the Devil's Triangle intent on killing all pirates especially Jack Sparrow. Jack's only hope of survival lies in finding the legendary Trident of Poseidon, and he enlists the help of Carina Smyth, a brilliant astronomer, and Henry, a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy (who just happens to be Will Turner's hot son).

The new trailer shows Will for just a split-second (at the 0:15 mark), as he appears to reach out and touch Henry's face. Will looks a little worse for wear, barnacles having taken root in his immortal flesh. Still, it's going to be an exciting ride seeing how they end up reunited! Will the new PotC gang end up on the Flying Dutchman?

Check out the trailer below and make your own guess!

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See Will Turner's Surprising Return in the New "Pirates of the Caribbean" Trailer - Seventeen.com

Karolin Troubetzkoy addresses U.S. Virgin Islands Hotel and Tourism Associations Annual General Meeting

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS The head of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) called on the region to work together to ensure the Caribbean remains one of the worlds leading destinations.

Delivering the keynote at the Annual General Meeting of the U.S. Virgin Islands Hotel and Tourism Association earlier this month, CHTA President Karolin Troubetzkoy noted that while Caribbean destinations are very different, they share many of the same challenges from the impact of climate change to the high cost of operations.

Troubetzkoy, who is the executive director of operations at St. Lucias Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountain resorts, believes a collective resolve is needed, leveraging the strength of diversity and the commonalities of the regions countries and territories to fulfill tourisms true potential.

She pointed to the some of the issues many regional destinations are facing, such as improving intra-regional travel, the high costs of airlift to the region as well as importing food, taxes and the growing activity of the sharing economy.

Troubetzkoy indicated she is encouraged by recent movements towards greater public-private sector collaboration to address the regions tourism competitiveness and development.

She cited a recent presentation by CHTA and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) at the CARICOM Intersessional meeting where the leaders gave the green light to the organizations to draft a plan for submission to the CARICOM Summit in July for a sustained region-wide tourism development and marketing initiative.

Quoting from a recent CTO report on the industrys 2016 tourism performance, Troubetzkoy observed that while the Caribbean reported its seventh consecutive year of growth with an increase of visitor arrivals by 4.2 percent and a total of 29.3 million stay-over visitors to the region, that growth was unevenly distributed, with Cuba and the Dominican Republic being the primary beneficiaries.

Similarly, despite the increase in visitor arrivals, many regional hotel properties did not experience a successful 2016, as measured in terms of key performance indicators such as Occupancy, ADR (Average Daily Rate) and RevPar (Revenue per Available Room).

Underscoring the need for integrated regional approaches, Troubetzkoy reminded attendees that the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expects the Caribbean regions tourism share to decline from 2.1 percent to 1.7 percent by 2030.

The CHTA president issued a call to tourism professionals across the region to work together to make their destinations more competitive on the global market: We also must keep an eye on the many international tourism destinations out there that perform better than us destinations that have been able to offer 5- and 6-star products at a cost that probably would buy a 3- or 4-star holiday in the Caribbean.

She called for stronger partnerships between the public and private sectors at the destination and regional levels to tackle the difficult issues of increased airlift, air travel costs, taxation, improved inter-regional connectivity and figuring out together how to price products more competitively in the global marketplace: Our discussions may be uncomfortable and sometimes heated but they must take place because, in the end, we are in this together.

Pointing to the rapid growth of the alternative accommodations sector through online platforms like Airbnb, she asserted: Rather than fighting the trend we have much to gain by working with (them) to find ways of cooperating for the benefit of our visitors, our dedicated hoteliers and tourism professionals, as well as our hospitable citizens who are willing to share their homes with visitors from abroad, and from within our destinations.

CHTA Chairman Richard Doumeng with CHTA President Karolin Troubetzkoy (center) and Lisa Hamilton, President of the U.S. Virgin Islands Hotel and Tourism Association

Key issues related to the sharing economys participation in the hospitality industry include the need to ensure safety and security for guests, and to establish policies that require the homestay community to make a reasonable contribution to each destinations infrastructure maintenance and construction costs.

Noting that people are key to competitiveness, Troubetzkoy urged destinations to develop and fine-tune every aspect of our customer service experience, enhancing our product itself whether we are talking about availability of real, authentic Caribbean cultural and culinary offers, locally made products or renovated and enhanced hotel accommodations that have taken into account changing customer expectations.

None of this can be achieved, she declared, without well-trained and informed people in the sector: We have to ensure we are training people who will continually improve our product as they make fulfilling careers in tourism, and we need to also provide these stalwarts of our sector with continuing education and training. Because, lets face it our landscapes, adventures and beaches will draw travelers to our shores but it is our Caribbean people who will keep them coming back.

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People and Partnership Needed To Keep Caribbean Competitive - South Florida Caribbean News