Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1421252
B M & T ••• September/October 2021 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 27 these markets over the long-term," said the Commissioner. He explained it was important to have a strong presence in "the Mile High City", home of Frontier Airlines, the destina- tion's newest airline partner. While in Denver, Assistant Commissioner Henneman-Todman met with Laura Jackson, Vice President of Air Service Development at Denver International Airport , to discuss win-win opportunities between Denver and the Territory. While in Colorado, Commissioner Boschulte attended the U.S. Travel Association's Summer Board meeting in Colorado Springs, where he met with fellow tourism executives from across the nation. "These triannual gatherings are timely opportunities to share with and learn from my tourism col- leagues best practices related to examining the current land- scape and exploring solutions to propel tourism growth while we navigate the health safety challenges of the pandemic," he noted. Earlier in the month, the Commissioner joined U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. in Atlanta for an interac- tive Career Mixer, part of a national campaign to raise aware- ness among Virgin Islanders living abroad of the wide range of public service jobs available in the Territory. Governor Bryan and Commissioner Boschulte also met with members of the travel lifestyle and African American media as well as Virgin Islander Audrey Irvine, Senior Director, Newsource Newsgathering at CNN, who grew up on St. Croix. For more information about the United States Virgin Islands, go to VisitUSVI.com. The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA)(eb) have teamed up to strengthen the rela- tionship between travel advisors and the region. The partnership between the two organizations is intended to generate synergies in areas such as advocacy, information exchange, and cross-orga- nizational membership. Vanessa Ledesma, Acting CEO and Director General of CHTA, sees great value in the networking opportunity, noting that travel advisors represent a valuable untapped channel for growth: "This is an enormously smart partner- ship, which gives our members direct access to ASTA, the lead- ing trade association for travel advisors, the travel industry and the traveling public." She added: "We are seeing an increasing trend in travelers' booking behavior, in that they are relying on travel advisors more and more to help them make decisions. This trend gives CHTA members further opportunity to connect with more clients." Under the agreement, CHTA members will be offered a 50- percent discount to join ASTA, avail- able through mid-July. Further details can be found at https://caribbeanhote- landtourism.com/member-product-dis- counts. "We are excited to announce this partnership between the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA)," said Christina Salu, Membership Director of ASTA. "Our job is to help generate new business leads and B2B opportunities – helping to expand your reach and increase tourism to the Caribbean. With over 13,000 members and growing, ASTA is the leading trade associ- ation for travel advisors, the travel industry, and the trav- eling public. Our membership represents 80 percent of the travel sold from the U.S. agency industry. "We not only want to help you understand the U.S. travel market, but we also want to help you build brand awareness and strong partnerships with U.S.-based travel agencies that are looking for trusted suppliers, tour oper- ators and DMCs in the Caribbean," said Salu. Ledesma expects a productive partnership for CHTA members aligning with ASTA: "CHTA members will be able to use the ASTA logo, be listed in ASTA's member directory and their quarterly magazine TravelAdvisor, gain access to ASTA's global network of travel profes- sionals, and benefit from discounts on products and events as well as the use of industry resources to help save time and money." In addition to sharing the benefits of critical member news, contacts and industry updates, the two associations will also collaborate on crafting advocacy strategies crit- ical to the speedy and successful return to pre-pandemic levels of business. "It's been a rough pandemic for us and for our visitors and we want to make use of our partnership to broaden the reach of our messaging and to strengthen the impact of our Caribbean region promotions to enable a rapid return to normalcy and profitability," Ledesma added. Ledesma was upbeat about the newly minted partner- ship's potential to jointly identify new business leads and business-to-business opportunities: "CHTA looks for- ward to helping ASTA and its global network of travel professionals expand their reach into the Caribbean, which obviously is good for us all." For further information, visit www.caribbeanhoteland- tourism.com and (ASTA.org). CHTA AND ASTA JOIN FORCES TO BOOST MEMBER BENEFITS