Sixteen prestigious anniversary tourism awards up for grabs

Sixteen Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) awards will be up for grabs this year at the Association’s 70th Anniversary Tourism Gala on Friday, December 9.

The biennial awards ceremony, customarily held at the end of the two-year tenure of each BHTA Chairman, was last hosted in 2018 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, two Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented this year by immediate Past Chairmen of the Association, Stephen Austin and Geoffrey Roach, who served during the period 2018-2021.

Present Chairman of the Association Renée Coppin explained that the awards, which celebrate the outstanding contribution of BHTA members to the tourism industry, will also feature two new awards. She said: “This year we will have a Special Award, in response to COVID-19, for any individual, company or corporation operating within Barbados who or which demonstrated exceptional service, professionalism and dedication towards the nation’s response during the pandemic.

“We have also introduced the People’s Choice Award, which will be presented to any Barbadian or resident of the island who is employed in the sector and embodies the spirit of tourism and hospitality.  Along with these we have also reintroduced the Supporting Member of the Year award in the Business Excellence Category.”

The other awards include Hotel of the Year – Luxury, A Class and B-Class & Apartments; Vacation Rental Property Management Company of the Year; Business Excellence of the Year Awards in the categories Restaurant Member, Tourism Attraction, and Tourism Industry Supplier and Tourism Industry Partner; BHTA Environmental and Sustainability Award; Social Responsibility Award and Tourism Employee of the Year Award.

Nominations for the Awards are open to any person, accommodation property, restaurant, activity/attraction, industry supplier, service provider or supporter of the industry for outstanding performance and contribution to the growth, development and sustainability of the industry. The only criterion is that they must be members of the Association. All nominations should be submitted to the BHTA via email at awards2022@bhta.org and copied to membershipassistant@bhta.org or gayleh@bhta.org no later than Friday, September 30, 2022.

The 2018 BHTA awardees were Cobblers Cove Hotel, Sea Breeze Beach House, Yellow Bird Hotel, Café Luna, Barbados Blue, St. Nicholas Abbey, Talma Mills, Dover Beach Hotel, Bougainvillea Beach Resort, Sugar Bay, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Bradley Broomes, Hampden Clarke, Norman Barrow, Naria Lord, Robyn Gollop-Knight, Anthony Pickering and Cynthia O’Hara.

(PR)