CHTA forges partnership with Cable & Wireless

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC), a full-service communications provider operating in 16 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

As a strategic partner, CWC will work with hoteliers as the business solutions provider behind the end-to-end hospitality deployment of full IP network and telephony in the Caribbean, helping CHTA members reduce costs and increase efficiency in hotel operations.

CWC will play a major role in upcoming energy efficiency education and networking events, in addition to webinars and panel discussions during the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF), slated for October 2-4, 2015, at El Conquistador Resort, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Puerto Rico.

"Cable & Wireless Communications will fill a vital need within our member-ship for integrated communications and technology solutions," said Emil Lee, president of CHTA.

"Modern connectivity is not only critical to our visitors' experience and expectations, but it is critical to our educational and economic development as countries in the Caribbean. In today's information age, fast, reliable and affordable connectivity with the rest of the world is key to our future growth both socially and economically," added Lee, noting that CWC and its subsidiaries are active in virtually all applicable markets.

"We are glad to be joining forces with CHTA, the leading association for hotels and tourism in the Caribbean. The hospitality industry is a key vertical for our company, where we serve some of our most important customers. We look forward to collaborating with the group of hotels and professional members of CHTA and work towards further growing the hospitality industry in the region," said John Maduri, president of Cable & Wireless and Columbus Business Solutions.

CWC operates Cable and Wireless Panama, LIME (throughout the Caribbean excluding The Bahamas), BTC (The Bahamas) and Cable and Wireless Seychelles. The company recently merged with Columbus International, that operates in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia and CuraÁao under the brand name Flow; in Antigua under the brand name Karib Cable and its IT solutions, managed networking and cloud-based services under the brand Columbus Business Solutions.

C&W and Columbus Business Solutions have provided solutions to more than 150 hotels throughout the last years. Through this partnership, they hope to bring new and creative solutions, leveraging mobile, broadband, and TV technology to CHTA members which will enable them to pursue new revenue opportunities, reduce costs and improve their customers' experience.

CHTA Strategic Partners are leading organisations and companies involved in a wide range of industry sectors and activities in the Caribbean. While each plays a unique role and brings to the table its own individual benefits and specialisations, all CHTA Strategic Partners share one common purpose - an unwavering commitment to the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry.

In addition to Cable & Wireless Communications, CHTA Strategic Partners include HVS, Interval International, MasterCard, OBM International, Tambourine and Travelzoo.