Tourism

BARBADOS FEATURED IN TRAVEL DOCUMENTARY

On World Tourism Day, CEO of Barbados Tourism, Dr. Jens Thraenhart, announced that destination Barbados is featured in Sustainable Travel: Where Next?,an all-new documentary series released today by Sustainable Travel International. The series highlights how the global travel and tourism sector is taking action to protect our planet and its treasured destinations, showcasing Barbados’ sustainability efforts as one such example. The series debuts as the international community celebrates World Tourism Day and acknowledges the important role that tourism plays in sustainable development.

Using high-end cinematography, Sustainable Travel: Where Next? takes viewers on a different kind of a journey, exploring sustainability initiatives that are transforming tourism all around the world. The series is a collection of 16 short-form documentary films produced by Zinc Communicate, a Zinc Media Group company, each spotlighting a different tourism destination or organization. From the beaches of Barbados to the urban heart of Norway, the series brings to life uplifting stories of conservation, regeneration, inclusion, empowerment, and resilience.

In recent years, awareness of tourism’s impacts reached an all-time high, with travelers becoming more cognizant of the burden that the traditional model of tourism was placing on sensitive places and overvisited communities. Sustainable Travel: Where Next? offers hope for the future and embodies this year’s World Tourism Day theme: ‘Rethinking Tourism.’ From farm-to-table culinary experiences to recycling and reuse programs, each episode showcases real-life examples of sustainable travel in action and emphasizes the local voices behind these efforts.

“This series aims to captivate and inspire viewers to take action within their own lives or professional roles to further sustainable travel,” said Paloma Zapata, CEO of Sustainable Travel International. “Over the past two years, people spent a lot of time looking back and reflecting on the harmful effects of tourism and everything that’s gone wrong. Now is the time to look forward and as we do so, it is more important than ever to be telling powerful, uplifting stories that encapsulate the positive side of tourism, and its potential to conserve our planet and create social benefit.”

The series includes an episode focused entirely on Barbados’ sustainability efforts, including how it’s working collaboratively as a community to propel the country forward through the current climate crisis.

Speaking on Barbados’ inclusion in the documentary, Thraenhart stated that “It is a major accomplishment for Barbados to be included in this important global documentary alongside other destinations including Edmonton and Victoria in Canada; Park City, Utah; Vail, Colorado; and Sonoma County, California in the USA; Oslo in Norway; Ljubljana in Slovenia; Australia, Denmark; and St. Kitts as the only other country in the Caribbean. On one hand, it allows us to favourably position ourselves in the minds of the increasing share of travelers that want to travel more sustainably, especially young people, but we will also use it as a catalyst to drive our sustainability journey to mitigate existential threats like climate change,” he said.

To mitigate the environmental footprint of the film production, Zinc Communicate is partnering with Sustainable Travel International to offset the main sources of carbon emissions: crew flights, accommodations, and ground transport.

Tourism

BHTA BARBADOS NATIONAL CULINARY TEAM RETAINS CARIBBEAN TEAM OF THE YEAR TITLE

Barbados has retained the bragging rights as the Caribbean National Culinary Team of the Year.

The announcement was made last night at the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Taste of the Caribbean Awards Ceremony in Miami, after two days of rigorous competition.

Members of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) Barbados National Culinary Team, who competed at Taste this year, are Chef Rynaldo Joseph, Junior Chef Dejuan Toppin, Pastry Chef Rickeena Kirton and Mixologist Alex Chandler.

They were accompanied by Team Manager Adrian Cumberbatch, Assistant Team Manager Javon Cummins and Coaches Damian Leach and Rohan Hackshaw and BHTA representatives including Chairman Javon Griffith and CEO Ryan Forde.

The BHTA Culinary Team returns home today.

Tourism

BARBADIAN REUBEN LEROY BROWNE NAMED GENERAL MANAGER AT WYNDHAM GRAND BARBADOS SAM LORDS CASTLE

Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle has appointed Barbadian Reuben Leroy Browne as General Manager of the all-inclusive luxury resort in St. Philip.

With over 30 years of experience in the tourism industry with major international brands across the Caribbean, Browne will be responsible for the hotel’s operations including enhancing guest experiences and revenue growth, while focusing on strategic planning, resource management and prioritizing environmental and social responsibility activities, among other tasks.

The new General Manager, who took up the post last month (October), said, “Over the past few weeks, I have had the privilege of getting to know our amazing team and exploring everything our beautiful resort has to offer. Our team is truly dedicated, and together we are committed to enhancing the guest experience as we approach the winter season.

“I’m proud to share that all of our resort’s food and beverage outlets are all operational, including the Mediterranean Restaurant for all-day dining, Sam Lords Grill, and our signature fine-dining venue, Castle View. Our Lucy’s Lounge, named in honor of Sam Lords’ wife, adds a unique touch to the resort, and we also have six well-appointed bars throughout the property to cater to our guests’ needs.”

He added that the spa, 24 hour gym and Kid’s Club are also functioning at full steam for both locals and visitors to utlise and said, “Our next steps will be to fill key vacancies starting with the Director of Sales and Marketing. We are also continuing our promotion of the property in key source markets at events such as World Travel Market in London, which our Revenue Manager attended earlier this month.”

Browne, who has a strong educational background from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and several management development programmes, most recently served as General Manager of an all-inclusive 294 suite property in Antigua.

Since starting his career in the industry in 1984, he has developed a successful track record in various leadership roles including Food and Beverage Manager, Operations Manager, Residence Manager, Director of Operations and Chief Commercial Officer at renowned hotels and resorts in Barbados and the region.

An active member in various professional associations including the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) and past member of the Downtown Nassau Partnership, he also dedicates his time to charitable endeavors including the Optimist Club. (PR)

Caption: Barbadian Reuben Leroy Browne has been appointed General Manager of the all-inclusive Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle.

Tourism

BHTA BARBADOS NATIONAL CULINARY TEAM OFF TO TASTE OF THE CARIBBEAN 2024

Members of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) Barbados National Culinary Team left the island last Saturday to compete in the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Taste of the Caribbean, which takes place in Miami from November 18 to 20.

They are Chef Rynaldo Joseph, Junior Chef Dejuan Toppin, Pastry Chef Rickeena Kirton and Mixologist Alex Chandler, along with Team Manager Adrian Cumberbatch, Assistant Team Manager Javon Cummins and Coaches Damian Leach and Rohan Hackshaw.

Cumberbatch noted that the team is ready to put their best plates and beverages forward: “There has been a lot of preparation over the past few weeks to get everyone ready for the competition. Our focus was on strengthening a number of areas ranging from time management to concepts and flavor profiles. After weeks of hard work and dedication I can confidently say that the team members are all ready to showcase their talent and skills and to make Barbados proud.”

BHTA’s Special Projects Manager, Tessalee Moore, who is among a BHTA contingent, including Chairman Javon Griffith and CEO Ryan Forde, attending Taste to support the team, explained that the Association was more than happy to be facilitating the process to get team Barbados to the prestigious event.

Caption: Members of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) Barbados National Culinary Team at the GAIA yesterday with BHTA CEO Ryan Forde (left) and Special Projects Manager Tessalee Moore (second from left) on the way to the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Taste of the Caribbean in Miami.

“We are extremely happy that Taste is back and that Barbados can attend and defend our title as Caribbean Team of the Year. But beyond that, for the BHTA, Taste is more than a competition. It is also a major training and developmental tool for our chefs and mixologists as it provides educational opportunities by way of seminars, workshops and demonstrations on the trends and emerging concepts in Food and Beverage.

“While we would love Team Barbados to bring home gold and the bragging rights as Team of the Year again, we equally want the members to gain from this experience in a way that will propel their careers and for them to willingly share their knowledge with their peers when they return. This is their opportunity to showcase their skills on an international platform and we want them to take full advantage of that opportunity.” (PR)