|
|
AHTA presents HOTY award to Delroy Lake at Christmas Lunch |
| Publishing date: 22.01.2009 08:21 |
Press Release: Thursday, 18th December 2008
Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association (AHTA) Board of Directors meet at CuisinArt Resort and Spa to discuss the Tourism Season and present Delroy Lake of Ku with 2008 Hotelier of the Year.
|
The Board of Directors of the AHTA gathered together around the ‘Chefs Table’ at CuisinArt Resort and Spa for their final Board Meeting of 2008 and took the opportunity to honour the new Hotelier of the Year and Vice President of the AHTA - Delroy Lake of Ku. Mr Lake was unable to receive the award in person when it was presented at the Tourism Gala on December 5th as he was off island at very important marketing activities. His wife Mrs Sheila Lake and the Assistant Manager of Ku, Mrs Lloyd collected the important award on his behalf at the glamorous ceremony.
The AHTA Board of Directors meets on a monthly basis and provides expert guidance to the Secretariat of the Association. The Board is elected by the whole membership and includes representatives from all aspects of Anguilla’s Tourism Industry. They give of their time voluntarily and are involved in all the key activities of the Association – Advocacy, Marketing and Professional Development of the Tourism Industry. At the meeting the main topic of discussion was the recent budget speech and the difficulties that face the industry - including lack of access, the increased Marketing Levy, increased operating costs and declining occupancy levels.
The AHTA Secretariat had undertaken a telephone poll of its Accommodation members and were happy to report that the island would be expecting its usual high occupancy levels for the Christmas period. Unfortunately, November and December had seen a decrease in occupancy of approximately 20 % across the board. For January through March - Hotels and Villas contacted projected between 20 to 45% decreases in bookings on the previous years. On a positive note they reported that levels of enquiry were strong and many properties were confident that extreme weather conditions in North America and a trend towards later bookings would make the picture better going forward. Also the welcome re-opening of Cap Juluca with its impressive refurbishment plus the capacious new Spa at CuisinArt as well as interest in the new Viceroy resort opening in April - would provide excellent media coverage and increase Anguilla’s profile. Other observations were that most properties were being asked to discount rates or offer ‘packages’ to make the stay more appealing to more ‘value conscious’ visitors. The Board of Directors felt this information was a matter of national interest and would be sharing this information with members of the Government of Anguilla and other members of the tourism community.
Mrs Hughes thanked all the members of the Board for the hard work they do on behalf of the Association and noted that tough times were ahead and that it was imperative for the Association to be strong and support the marketing efforts of the Anguilla Tourist Board. She then presented Mr Lake with his trophy alongside the previous year’s winner – Mr Zaharia.
|
Mr Delroy Lake of Ku collecting his Hotelier of the Year Award from President of the AHTA Mrs Sherille Hughes and previous winner Mr Stephane Zaharia of Cuisinart Resort and Spa.
| |
AHTA Board of Directors and Secretariat enjoying a Christmas Lunch at Cuisinart Resort and Spa. From left to right clockwise: Delroy Lake, Trudy Nixon, Wilbert Fleming, Avon Carty, Sherille Hughes, Stephane Zaharia, Gilda Gumbs Samuel, Fred Thompson and Janine Edwards.
| |
|
|
|
|
