The Caribbean has shown to have tremendous investment potential for Spanish hotel interests, which have steadily expanded their presence beyond their successful ventures in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, and are growing throughout the region from the Bahamas in the north to Aruba in the south.

In recognising the role of Spanish investors in the sustainable development of Caribbean tourism, Peter Odle, president of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), and Senator Allen Chastanet, chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), headed a delegation from the Caribbean hotel and tourism sectors that met yesterday (September 14) with senior executives of the main Spanish hotel chains operating in the Caribbean.

The meeting which was held at Palma de Mallorca, in Spain's Balearic Islands, was brought to fruition through the good offices of Dominican lawyer and hotelier Enrique De Marchena, president-elect of the CHA.

The meeting's agenda revealed an ambitious range of issues for discussion, such as global competitiveness, Spanish investment, the United States passport requirement, and global warming, among others.

"We expect this to be the first step in a long-term collaborative effort that can be equally beneficial for the indigenous Caribbean tourism industry, foreign hotel interests, and ultimately, the Caribbean people," said the CHA president.

Some 30 of Spain's most powerful hotel investors confirmed their attendance, including Gabriel Escarrer, president of Sol Meliá; Miguel Fluxá, president of Grupo Iberostar; Abel Matutes, president of the Fiesta Hotel Group; Simón Pedro Barceló, co-chairman of Barceló Enterprises; and Pablo Piñero, president of Grupo Piñero.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean's delegation included former CHA President Simón Suárez, chief development representative for Latin America and the Caribbean of Hilton Hotels Corporation; Grenadian hotelier Sir Royston Hopkin KCMG, chairman of the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism; David Jessop, executive director of the London-based Caribbean Council; and Alec Sanguinetti and Tanya Lazarus, director general & chief executive officer and director of membership development, respectively, of CHA; among others.

The logistics of the high-level meeting were spearheaded by CHA and Spain's Grupo Preferente, with the support of Sol Meliá and Bancaja, parent company of the sixth largest financial group in Spain and renowned for its commitment to corporate social responsibility.