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| Marie Walker,
Director ATB North America and Merlyn Rogers
Director of marketing ATB Anguilla at CHA
Marketplace 2008 |
January 15, 2008: The Caribbean Hotel Association Marketplace 2008, was
hosted at Atlantis Resort Paradise Island, Nassau Bahamas,
from January 13 -15. The Marketplace
is seen as the most important tourism marketing event
of the year for the Caribbean and it represented the second
time that the Bahamas served as hosts. It
brought together,
in one location, over 1,400 delegates from major
industry buyers and suppliers inclusive of hoteliers,
airlines, car rental companies and ground handlers with
qualified tour operators and wholesalers, according to the
hosts.
Several representatives of the tourism industry from
Anguilla were present at the Marketplace;
included in the list were
officials from the Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB), Anguilla Hotel
Tourism Association (AHTA) as well as several hotel managers or
their representatives.
On the floor of the large conference room,
Anguilla's inviting "Feeling is believing" and
"Charming Escapes" banners stood out.
ATB Director, Marketing Merlyn Rogers said that the main goal of the team
at the Marketplace was to strengthen and foster their
current relationship with travel buyers and to expand into
new applicable markets. She said that
the ATB is always looking
for the right mix, with continued focus on the top tier
clientele. She was also quick to express her appreciation
for the customers looking for charming escapes, most of
which are owned by Anguillians. "Emphasis is always on
quality" she said to AnguillaLNT shortly after
courting both the "Robb Report" and the "New York Times"
travel representative.
Anguilla resorts featuring booths included Ku, Paradise Cove
Resort, Carimar Beach Club, Arawak Beach Inn, Sirena Hotel,
Cap Juluca, CuisinArt Resort & Spa and Viceroy.
In opening remarks on Sunday, President of the
Caribbean Hotel Association, Peter Odle, declared the event
as one of the biggest and most successful ever. He said, in
total there were 400 booths in the market place, up from 371
in 2007. |
