The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) has a new president in Sanovnik Destang.

Destang, the executive director of the Bay Gardens Resorts portfolio in Saint Lucia, is regarded as one of the Caribbean’s most dynamic hoteliers. He succeeds Jamaica’s Nicola Madden-Greig, who helped the region’s tourism industry recover from the pandemic and introduced new resilience measures to the Healthier Safer Tourism Program.

Elected for a two-year term at the CHTA’s recent annual general meeting, Destang was named Caribbean Hotelier of the Year in the 2023 Caribbean Travel Awards. Joining his leadership team are: First Vice-President Karen Whitt of The Hartling Group, Turks & Caicos; Second Vice-President Craig Marshall, Blue Diamond Resorts, Antigua & Barbuda; and Third Vice-President, Clifton Reader, Palace Resorts, Jamaica. The fourth vice-president is Kendra Hopkin Stewart of Blue Horizons Garden Resort, Grenada; fifth vice-president, Bill Clegg of BW Hotels. The new CHTA treasurer is Jim Hepple of Tourism Analytics, Aruba.

Destang, considered an industry veteran, helped lead Bay Gardens into Saint Lucia’s top resort collection. He is ready to lead the CHTA into a new chapter following Madden-Greig’s tenure.

In her outgoing speech, Madden-Greig stated, “The past three years, taking over at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, were both challenging and very rewarding…Nothing has given me more joy than having headed the hard-working team that led the Caribbean to be the fastest-recovering region in the world, coming out of a once-in-a-century pandemic.”