TOURISM MATTERS
SLHTA GOODWILL AMBASSADOR maps pathway of engagement with SLHTA Board of Directors
At a special luncheon hosted in her honor, SLHTA Goodwill Ambassador Levern Spencer shared insights of her career, challenges, dreams and aspirations with Board Members. This is the first engagement that Ms. Spencer has had with the SLHTA’s decision making organ since being inducted as the organization’s Goodwill Ambassador. Ms. Spencer was inducted in absentia at this year’s Annual General Meeting of members. Her citation, read by Noorani Azeez indicated that Ms. Spencer emerged as the best candidate as a result of her commendable representation of the island at International functions, her willingness to build partnerships between SLHTA and other organizations and passion to serve as a role model for St Lucians and as a change agent in the areas of Sports, Entertainment, Arts and Culture, Environment, Health, Education and the performance of civic duties. 

The SLHTA Secretariat is now charged with laying the groundwork for implementation of a slew of programs and activities over the coming months aimed at improving the lives of youth and the elderly, the two groups identified by Ambassador Spencer as those she wished targeted for support over the next two years.
World Chamber of Commerce engages SLHTA

The World Chamber of Commerce organized a visiting mission from Atlanta seeking to promote business opportunities between Saint Lucia and the Greater Atlanta area in the Southeastern United States. As part of the delegation, the WCC mission had representatives from Brandon Hall School. Brandon Hall School provided Saint Lucia with a generous scholarship for a young Saint Lucian to participate in an effort to attend the BHS over the summer next year to experience the BHS philosophy “to live, learn, and collaborate on finding tangible solutions to the most pressing challenges in the world.” SLHTA CEO Noorani Azeez attended the function of the visiting WCC members to share the values of the SLHTA and to explore areas of possible collaboration. The WCC members were oriented on some of the corporate social programs which the SLHTA launched in previous years including the Virtual Agricultural Clearing House, Culinary Program for Chefs, Hospitality Apprenticeship Program for Youth, SLHTA Group Medical Insurance Program and the concept of our Tourism Enhancement Fund. Former German Ambassador Lutz Goergens facilitated the networking session which also explored opportunities for some local agro processing entrepreneurs.
America's Most Eco=Friendly Hotel Award goes to Fond Doux Plantation & Resort
The SLHTA extends congratulations to the team at Fond Doux Plantation & Resort on their successful achievement in winning America’s Most Eco-Friendly Hotel Award. 

Fond Doux Plantation & Resort was awarded the 2019 Americas’ Most Eco-Friendly Hotel at the prestigious World Boutique Hotel Awards ceremony held at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, London on November 6, 2019.

The Boutique Hotel Awards is the first and only international awards organization exclusively dedicated to recognizing unique excellence among boutique hotels.

The Resort has been a long standing member of the SLHTA, participating in many of the organization’s programs and activities. Check out this link on St. Lucia News Online for more information https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/fond-doux-plantation-resort-wins-americas-most-eco-friendly-hotel-award/
IGY Rodney Bay Marina receives 5 Gold Anchor Accreditation again 
IGY Rodney Bay Marina’s 5 Gold Anchor accreditation, equivalent to a 5 start hotel rating, which we are proud to receive for the third concessive time in nine years (Marina assessments done every 3 years). This assessment is conducted by the independent Yacht Harbor Association based in the UK. The valuation takes into consideration the marina size, services, amenities / activities, mystery shoppers, customer service, community programs and more importantly the facilities environmental procedures and processes. General Manager Sean Devaux says “I am proud of the IGY team who worked tirelessly towards this achievement. IGY Rodney Bay Marina is the only accredited marina in the southern Caribbean with such an award. Our sister marina – Yacht Haven Grande in St. Thomas was the only platinum award in the western hemisphere.”  

Mr. Devaux who also serves as SLHTA’s Director for the Maritime Sector states that “Many vessels and captains use this accreditation to choose their destination. It gives me great honor to share this good news as we continue to improve with such assessments, specifically from an environmental stand point and gain recognition for the yachting sector on island. ” The SLHTA extends congratulations to the team members and management for this Golden Achievement.
CHTA Caribbean Marketplace
ILO Training Workshop on Public Employment Services in the context of disaster/crisis preparedness and response

The Department of Labour; Government of Saint Lucia, hosted an ILO Training Workshop on Public Employment Services in the context of disaster/crisis preparedness and response. The five-day workshop was held at Saint James Club Morgan Bay. The training commenced on October 28 th , 2019 and ended on November 1 st 2019. In attendance were representatives from the Department of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Equity, Ministry of Commerce, a representative from the National Apprenticeship Programme, Employer’s Federation, Mampa Agency and the National Skills Development Centre. Also, in attendance were participants from Dominica, Barbados and Surinam. Ms. Yola St. Jour attended on behalf of the Saint Lucia Hospitality and Tourism Association.  

The objectives of this training course were as follows:
  • To sensitize national stakeholders of public employment services on key skills and processes linked to the management of public employment services and the provision of employability enhancement measures.
  • To introduce crisis response mechanisms within operations of public employment services (PES)
  • To guide national strategic choices on functioning of public employment services, including through peer review of operations with other Caribbean partners.
  • To design a results-oriented strategy for the functioning of the PES based on a simple but efficient performance evaluation framework and monitoring an evaluation system.

The Course was extremely educational with constant participation and enthusiasm from all representatives who attended. The workshop ended with a brief ceremony led by the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Labour followed by the distribution of certificates to all participants.