Aruba Timeshare Association Celebrates 2022 Island-Wide Hospitality Training with CHTA Education Foundation
Luigi Heredia, President of the Aruba Timeshare Association (ATSA) has lauded the successful completion of the island-wide training initiative, delivered by the CHTA Education Foundation. In his closing remarks at the celebration for the participants, Heredia told the gathering that “We want our members, guests, colleagues, owners, partners, investors, and communities to see that we’re on a journey to be successful in every sense of the word. I believe how we grow our properties and Aruba, and work to be a greater force for good, are linked. When looking at the training and speaking to the Education Foundation from the onset, we decided that we did not only want our ATSA members to be trained but to open to all Aruba hospitality professionals, where we invited the members of AHATA, Aruba Food & Beverage Association and Vacation Rental Professionals Aruba.”
Mr. Heredia shared that within two weeks of opening training registration, they had to increase the capacity from to 240 to 336 seats, with their hospitality partners committing four months in advance.
Participants hailed from timeshare properties, resorts, small and large restaurants and bars, car rental companies, adventure and tour operators, and students. Also, several private individuals invested in themselves to attend the training.
Karolin Troubetzkoy, Chair of the Education Foundation added her congratulations to the Aruba cohort.
“We are incredibly proud of this island-wide initiative conceived and led by the Aruba Time Share Association. The Education Foundation is no stranger to Aruba, and it has been our pleasure to deliver 14-days of service-centric training. Thank you to the Aruba Tourism Authority for supporting the reach of this hospitality and training initiative and acknowledging the critical importance of supercharged, engaged, focused, and trained, service professionals, to the overall tourism product of Aruba. To each participant; remain energized and sparkle in your care of everyone. Thanks to AHATA for endorsing us.”
Trustee, Professor Mike Hampton, represented the Education Foundation at the closing event. In his remarks he gave “Enormous kudos and thanks to Luigi Heredia, President, and the Executive Board Members of ATSA, who have personally poured their passion, time, and resources into action for many months to make the past three weeks a reality.”
Trainers Louise John and Suzanne Shillingford-Brooks facilitated sessions in Happy Housekeepers, Strengthened Supervisors, Food and Beverage – Light Up Tastebuds and Food and Beverage – Dinner Observation, Anticipation, Interaction, and Upselling.
“The broad spectrum of attendees has been amazing. They have been focused and the communication and sharing of ideas has been wonderful,” John said of the Aruba cohort. Participants are expected to engage in classwork but are also given homework to immediately put into practice what they are learning.
“The work of the Education Foundation impacts the trainees and the properties in many ways, including hard currency,” explained Louise. “After the first Food & Beverage day, teams were challenged to go back to their properties and work on ways to increase either drink or dessert sales, managers reported seeing up to 25% uplift in sales of mimosas and desserts. Others have added new drink offers because of the input from their team members.”
The CHTA Education Foundation is a vibrant charity that focuses 100% on the strengthening of Caribbean industry professionals through academic and technical learning, practical application and experiential training, alongside personal professional development, and mentoring. Learn more about the training opportunities and scholarships available at chtaef.com.
Interval International co-sponsors development program for Caribbean Hospitality and Tourism Professionals
Interval International, a leading worldwide provider of vacation services, recently co-sponsored an educational conference for hospitality professionals in Eagle Beach, Aruba. The program ran from Nov. 26th to Dec. 13th at the La Cabana Beach Resort and Casino, organized by the Aruba Timeshare Association (ATSA) and Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF).
More than 300 Aruba-based hospitality professionals from over 30 companies attended the conference, which provided participants with full-day, interactive workshops. Industry training professionals led sessions focused on housekeeping, food and beverage, and supervising personnel.
“ATSA would like to thank Interval International for its sponsorship of this important event, as well as its continued support of both our organization and the Aruba tourism industry,” says Luigi Heredia, president of the Aruba Timeshare Association. “It has been an honor to see so many associates participate in our training program with the help of our sponsors.” In addition to Interval, other sponsors of the event were the Aruba Tourism Authority, La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino, and Sunset Car Rental.
The Aruba Timeshare Association concludes 2022, with great satisfaction
The last ATSA meeting for 2022 carried a packed agenda, coming at the heel of a very successful Supercharged Island-Wide Hospitality Training project, with the CHTA’s Education Foundation.
The last ATSA meeting for 2022 at La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino included a number of presentations that were of great interest to the members of the association, among them Howard Maxwell, regarding an upcoming Disability Accessibility Survey. Maxwell also elaborated on Accessible Tourism, as envisioned by his company Care-Adise, serving visitors with physical disabilities.
Another presentation by Neil Kolton, Interval International, delivered the latest news and views of the international timeshare travel segment, which were received with great interest. Kolton, was a key figure in getting the CHTA Education Foundation on board with the Supercharged Service Training project, and became one of the main sponsors.
Former association president Andy Osborne reported on his latest activities in the field of coaching and training junior members of business management on the island.
The meeting unanimously accepted the candidacy of Pedro Vargas, Marriott Vacation Club, to the ATSA board, as representative of his timeshare resorts, and warmly welcomed him to the team, his contributions will no doubt be many.
In summing up the three weeks of Supercharged Island-Wide Hospitality Training, ATSA President Luigi Heredia reported that he was quite surprised, when the training registration opened to accommodate 240 candidates, in 10 days, and ended up with 385 registrations, in 14 days. ATSA was able to extend the program, and answered the need of all hospitality partners, who committed, as early as 4 months in advance.
In that vein, ATSA also decided to grant scholarships to future local hospitality professionals, and these were allocated to students of EPB Oranjestad, EPB San Nicolas, EPI and the University of Aruba Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management Studies.
The forum got an update on the activities of TPEF, the Tourist Product Enhancement Fund, by Sulaika Kelly, Playa Linda, and the Security Foundation, handled by Bob Curtis, Casa del Mar. The meeting concluded with a positive outlook for 2023, and wishes for a wonderful holiday season by Luigi Heredia, President, Aruba Timeshare Association.
