BHTA elects Renée Coppin as new chairman

The Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) has a new Chairman. She is Renée Coppin, who was elected at a Special General Meeting held by the Association last month.

This follows the departure of former Chairman Geoffrey Roach last December, who served 18 months of his two-year term, occasioned by the discontinuation of the operations of the Bridgetown Cruise Terminal Inc.

Coppin, the owner and operator of two South Coast hotels, Pirate’s Inn and Infinity on the Beach, as well as real estate agency, Sea Shell Caribbean Inc., previously held the position of First-Vice Chairman on the BHTA Board from June 2020 to December 2021 and June 2013 to June 2014.

With over 20 years of experience in the tourism industry and a background in sales and marketing, the registered Qualifying Broker holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Management from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. She brings a wealth of knowledge to the new role.

The BHTA Chairman states, “I am really very excited to be leading the Association at this time as we seek to rebuild our industry after two years of pandemic uncertainty. 2022 also marks the BHTA’s 70^th year of existence and I am standing on a legacy of strong Board and Executive leadership over those years and a secretariat team that has been second to none.

“It is certainly my vision to build on this foundation to again have tourism be the preeminent sector driving the development of Barbados.  There is a great deal of work to do but we in this industry have proven our resilience and with the support of all Barbadians we are ready to reestablish our island as a leading tourism destination.”

Coppin also currently serves as a Director on the Board of the Intimate Hotels of Barbados (IHB) and, in her capacity as BHTA Chairman, will also serve on the Board of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI).

During the meeting, Mark Kent was also elected to serve as the BHTA’s First Vice Chairman and Paul Doyle as Second Vice Chairman.

Other members of the BHTA Board of Directors include Stephen Austin, Immediate Past Chairman; Jo-Ann Roett, Director of Finance; Kavita Sandiford, Director of Direct Tourism Services (DTS); Alfredo Giovine – Chairperson – DTS; Karen Capaldi, Chairperson – Luxury; Leroy Browne, Chairperson – A Class; Rod Weatherhead, Chairperson – B Class & Apartments and Tania Wallace, Chairperson – Vacation Rental Property Management Companies.

Chief Executive Officer of the BHTA, Rudy Grant, also sits on the Board along with representatives of the BTMI – Jens Thraenhart, Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) – Patricia Affonso-Dass and IHB – Mahmood Patel.