The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) has honored John Bell, the first executive director of the association, with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor was bestowed at the Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS), which was held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL. Alec Sanguinetti, former CHTA CEO and director general, accepted the award on Bell’s behalf.
Bell, who was the guiding force of CHTA (formerly the Caribbean Hotel Association, or CHA) for 29 years, was lauded for recognizing the need to engage investors and financial institutions in the Caribbean hotel sector. He launched the first investment conference in 1997, triggering growth in the sector.
“We thought that it would be a good idea to bring the financial community into some kind of a direct contact with the hotel industry [so] we decided the best way to do that was to partner with another company, which in that case was the Financial Times of London,” Bell said. “We got them to become involved and use their clout to bring in the different players … and it worked extremely well,” he added.
In her tribute, Nicola Madden-Greig, CHTA president, noted that “it is not often that we get to honor living legends in our field,” adding that Bell’s vision and energy “framed the key role of tourism in the economies of the Caribbean.”
Frank Comito, who served as CEO and director general of CHTA until January 2021, described CHRIS, which Bell envisioned more than 25 years ago, as “the single most important factor which contributed to the phenomenal growth of Caribbean tourism.”
Comito asserted the growth and development of Caribbean tourism “stands on the broad shoulders of John Bell, whose drive, vision, and persuasive nature over three decades laid the foundation on which we continue to build today.”
Vanessa Ledesma, CHTA’s acting CEO and director general, who was originally hired by Bell, pointed to the catalytic role the investment summit played in the development of Caribbean economies. She cited the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Jamaica as key beneficiaries as early host destinations for the investment conference in the 1990s. “These destinations and the region have much to be grateful to John for his leadership, which helped to propel tourism’s growth throughout the Caribbean,” Ledesma stated.
For further information, visit www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com.
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