Following the hosting of its 59th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Thursday, 12 May 2022, a new Board of Directors were elected to serve within the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association (GHTA).
Nominations were invited for five vacant hotel seats to be filled. This was as a result of the expiration of terms for half of the board members who had previously served for two years. During the elections that were held at the AGM. Kendra Hopkin Stewart was elected, unchallenged to the post of GHTA President. Kendra Hopkin Stewart is the Deputy Manager of the indigenous, family-owned, Blue Horizon Garden Resort and has managerial experience in both Marketing and Food and Beverage.
Other members of the Board that were elected at Thursday’s AGM, were Vice President Peter Fraser, General Manager of Sandals Beach Resort & Spa; Treasurer Lotten Haagman Friday of SeaBreeze Hotel; Secretary Kevin Cooper of Mount Cinnamon Hotel. Tourism Director Christine Finney of EcoDive and Hotel Director Russ Fielden were also elected. Other members of the Board whose terms have not yet expired and therefore, will retain their seats are: Tourism Director Aaron Sylvester of Tri-Island Chocolate; Tourism Director Mandoo Seales of Mandoo Tours and Affiliate Director Marie Fielden of CMS.
Middle L-R: Marie Fielden, Aaron Sylvester, Christine Finney
Bottom L-R: Russ Fielden, Kevin Cooper, Lotten Haagman Friday, Leo Garbutt, Elvis Lewis
Arlene Friday remains Chief Executive Officer (CEO) while outgoing President Leo Garbutt will lend his support to the board in the role of Immediate Past President. Leaving the Board is Brian Hardy of Spice Beach Resort and Outgoing Immediate Past PresidentJerry Rappaport who served the board with true commitment and dedication for 10 years
The GHTA’s 59th AGM comes at a pivotal time for the tourism sector as well as for its members. With the recent reopening of Grenada, businesses are slowly beginning to recover but are still yet to thrive. Nevertheless, the Association said that it’s not only committed to bringing prosperity back to the sector but to leaving a lasting imprint for the future of Grenada.
The Keynote Address was delivered by Minister Modeste-Curwin, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation who outlined some of the prospects that were on the horizon while outgoing President Leo Garbutt shared the past successes of the Association.
CEO Arlene Friday stated that the main focus of the Association, as it charts the way forward, is to prioritise membership growth, promote inclusivity and reset expectations. She billed the upcoming term as “the year of return and recovery” of its members. “Together, she stated, “the GHTA can move mountains.”
President Kendra Hopkin stated in her inaugural remarks that “if the pandemic has taught us anything, is that we are stronger together as an industry. It has also taught us to use our differences and uniqueness as a collective advantage for the growth, development and sustainability of Tourism here in Grenada”
The President and newly elected Board will serve from 2022-2024.
GHTA
Arley Gill for GHTA President!
Grenada wishes to assure visitors from the UK that they are very welcome here (unless they are Royals of course..)