The Emergency Economic Plan that was signed between the Government and the A.H.T.A. made provisions for the reduction of electricity and diesel fuel costs for the hotels. These are now in place and hotels should be benefitting from them.

 

As of November 1st 2008 hotels have benefited from a 15% discount on their electricity bills on the condition that the invoiced amount is paid within 30 days. There has been some confusion over the application of this discount as APUA is experiencing technical problems with their accounting software. However hotels should manually deduct 15% from the monthly consumption and pay the net amount to APUA. We have been assured by the General Manager of APUA, Mr Esworth Martin that the discounted amounts will be amended on future billings.

 

The EEP also made provision for the sale of duty free diesel fuel to hotels. As of January 9th, 2009 West Indies Oil Co will be providing the hotels of the AHTA with duty free diesel fuel for their generators. This will represent a reduction in the fuel cost of approximately 25%.

 

Regular meetings are held between the Association, the Government  and the other stakeholders to review the state of the industry. Hoteliers will be meeting with Minister Lovell this week to discuss other possible ways in which the Government can help the industry traverse this crisis.

 

To review the full text of the agreement, click here

The AHTA has a mission to have all 5,000 of our industry workers certified by the year 2011. As an advocate for professional development our role is to develop our human resource to an international standard, and one such programme that can facilitate our aim is CARIBCERT.

 

CARIBCERT is a skill and knowledge development and professional recognition program that is designed to be started and completed on the job. It is not a training program nor does it require schooling outside the business. This new certification program will provide a way for all tourism employees to show that they meet and exceed the standards for the industry.

 

We re-introduced this program in 2007 to our member hotels and associates, and to date 47 persons have registered from respective properties: Jolly Beach Resort, Sandals, Galley Bay, Tradewinds Hotel, Hermitage Hotel, Antigua Yacht Club Marina and The Water Front Restaurant. Nineteen persons have completed the two phase model of the programme (theory and practical), and sat the exam between the months of June 08 – Dec 08 in the following areas: Food & Beverage, Food Preparation Supervisor, Front Desk Agents, Beverage Service, Core Supervisory/Management, Cook and Room Attendant

 

Our overall success rate in passes is 97% and the feed-back from the candidates and their Human Resource department has been very positive.

 

As of 2009, persons registered with CARIBCERT can sit the exam in the months of: March, June, September and December. For information on CARIBCERT, please visit www.caribcert.com  or contact Anthea Watkins at anthea@antiguahotels.org.