Barbados Today

The recently elected Vice- President and Chairperson of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s Direct Tourism and Supporting Services, Geoffrey Roach and Nicki King, have hit the ground running.

Elected at the association’s recent AGM, both Roach and King are passionate about tourism and take their new roles seriously.

“Our aim is to place the DTS on a path to become a more active and vibrant arm of the BHTA. As such, we will be consulting with our membership with a view to making some changes to the structure of the committee in the near future.

“Research is also high on our agenda as we recognise that there is valuable information available for the DTS membership, which just needs to be pulled together in a meaningful way, to be used to our advantage,” Roach said.

He added that the goal was to generate this information and statistics to be shared across the industry to help the sector, while streamlining businesses with a view to increasing revenues.

King added to this by stating that improved communication would also play a major role in their plans, explaining that discussions have already started with the BHTA’s board of directors and the Secretariat to look at some new and interesting solutions.

“We understand the challenges that face our industry currently but we believe there is strength in numbers, hence the Association is well positioned in that regard. We look forward to working with our membership especially our DTS members towards our common goals,” she said.

The BHTA’s DTS committee is made up of a number of the Association’s members who volunteer to work together to effectively and efficiently support the daily operations of the Association. Additionally, through discussions and initiatives, it assists the Secretariat in meeting the needs of DTS members and the Association on a whole.

Roach is currently the CEO of Bridgetown Cruise Terminals Inc., a position he has held since 2009, while King is the Operations Manager — Tourism Services at Goddards Shipping & Tours Ltd. where she has been employed since 1999.