CHTA forges strategic partnership with Cable & Wireless Communications to provide members with reliable & cost-saving connectivity solutions

Anthea WatkinsPress Releases

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 Oct. 2-4, 2015 at El Conquistador Resort, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Puerto Rico.

“Cable & Wireless Communications will fill a vital need within our membership for integrated communications and technology solutions,” said Emil Lee, president of CHTA. “Modern connectivity is not only critical to our visitor’s 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 Curacao 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 organizations 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 specializations, 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.

For information about becoming a Strategic Partner, contact Matt Cooper, CHTA’s chief marketing officer, 305-443-3040 or matt@caribbeanhotelandtourism.

Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) facilitates the full potential of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry by serving members’ needs and building partnerships in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. CHTA is the voice of the Caribbean hospitality industry for the development of the region in the highly competitive and sophisticated environment of international tourism. Today, tourism is widely recognized as a pivotal industry in the economy of the region – and CHTA functions as the common denominator for this industry in a region of diverse nationalities, languages and styles, identifying mutual problems and marshaling the resources of the active and allied members to devise solutions. CHTA represents all facets of the hospitality industry with more than 600 member hotels and over 300 allied members.

CHTA, including the events staged by the association, is supported by Strategic Partners MasterCard, Interval International, OBM International, HVS, Tambourine and TravelZoo.

For more information, visit http://www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com. Follow CHTA on Facebook Facebook.com/CaribbeanHotelandTourismAssociation and Twitter Twitter.com/CHTAFeeds.

Cable & Wireless Communications and Columbus International Inc.

Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full-service communications provider operating in 16 countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. With four leading brands: Mas Movil (Cable and Wireless Panama), LIME (the Caribbean excluding The Bahamas), BTC (The Bahamas) and Cable and Wireless Seychelles, CWC offers mobile, broadband, TV, domestic and international fixed line services and serves over 5.5m customers. CWC also provides premium data centre hosting, domestic and international managed data network services and customized IT Service Solutions to businesses and governments through our Cable & Wireless Business Solutions division. We are the market leader in most of the products we offer and the territories we serve. For more information visit: www.cwc.com.

Columbus International Inc. provides digital cable television, broadband Internet and digital landline telephony in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Curacao under the brand name Flow and in Antigua under the brand name Karib Cable. Columbus also provides next generation connectivity and IT solutions, managed networking and cloud-based services under the brand Columbus Business Solutions. Through its subsidiary, Columbus Networks, the Company provides capacity and IP services, corporate data solutions and data centre hosting throughout 42 countries in the greater Caribbean, Central American and Andean region. Through its fully protected, ringed submarine fibre optic network spanning more than 42,300 km and its 38,000 km terrestrial fibre and coaxial network, Columbus’ 3,150 plus professionals provide advanced telecom services to a diverse residential and corporate client base of over 700,000 customers. For more information visit www.columbus.co.