ANTIGUA: AHTA Chair Says Tourism Needs Better Monitoring

The Chairman of the Antigua Hotels and Tourism Association (AHTA), Alex DeBrito said there is need for better monitoring, supervision and more demands on hotel investors to ensure the industry maintains a high standard.

DeBrito said a lot of work is currently being done now on three and four star properties, but added the quality of many of the hotels are slipping.

“Some of the rooms need to be refurbished, improved. We need to have attractive mid-range hotels, with good rates which could attract more people,” he said.

The chairman said the problems that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said are affecting the marketing of the tourism product have to be addressed by all stakeholders.

“Of course we are monitoring, and do as much as we can. Properties are private, so when somebody invests in Antigua, it is for all of us to ensure we are on top of things. I think it is time now to get back to stricter supervision and be more demanding.

“In the past, to have a nice beach, nice people, sea and sun shining every day was enough, not anymore, we have competition,” DeBrito said.

He advised that the industry officials here also need to monitor and observe what is happening in more successful markets and work towards developing models that could yield similar results.