Meeting News - September 8, 2008 - (Page 34C)

Hotel Happenings Trinidad & Tobago’s hotel properties are keen to share island culture and bounty with their guests—through cuisine choices, displaying local artwork, and gracious staff members. More meetings properties, in addition to the new Hyatt, are now available. They include the 165-room Carlton Savannah and the new 83-room Holiday Inn Express. The 400-room Hilton Trinidad & Conference Centre recently introduced an additional 40,000 square feet of meeting rooms and four presidential suites, with complete updates to bedding, furniture, bathrooms, and more. Also new at the Hilton is the full-service Sanctuary Day Spa. The Cascadia Hotel also undertook significant upgrades, and the Courtyard by Marriott continues to meet event demands. Other group-friendly properties include the 200-room VHL Tobago Golf and Spa Resort and the elegant 135-room Coco Reef in Tobago. Personal indulgences and high-tech amenities are easy to find in properties both large and small throughout T&T. Intimate boutique properties in Trinidad tout urban chic, acclaimed chefs, and artistic interior designs. On the serene island of Tobago, groups will find eco-resorts and elegant villas—some with find nature preserves or bird sanctuaries right on property. Visionary Viewpoint Supported by a robust economy fueled by the oil and gas industries, the government is beginning to see the fruits of its transformation of Trinidad’s Port of Spain waterfront, an expansive boardwalk and chic shopping and dining district designed with meeting groups and leisure travelers in mind. The 428-room Hyatt Regency Trinidad opened there earlier this year, featuring 43,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, a fullservice spa, and modern design that brings in exciting T&T cultural motifs. Heads of state and top international executives turned out for the grand opening of the property—the country’s first full-service hotel to open in 46 years. It’s already one of the Caribbean’s signature meeting places, hosting important events such as the 12th Annual Caribbean Hotel Association’s Investment Conference (last spring). Upcoming are the ground-breaking Summit of the Americas, which will be attended by presidents of 34 countries, the prestigious Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and the influential 15th Annual FCCA Cruise Conference and Trade Show. And it’s all Carnival Culture Festivals are ingrained in the culture of Trinidad & Tobago, where costume design, steel pan and calypso competitions, and parading revelers have become the hallmark. The most famous festival is the annual Carnival, a three-day bacchanal leading up to Lent that shows off the creative depth and splendor of T&T. No matter what time of year a group visits the destination, there is bound to be a heritage, music, or culinary festival ripe for the picking. Taste T&T hits the palate every year in late May, and Tobago celebrates its Heritage Festival in July with two weeks of performances and events. October brings the traditional Steel Pan and Jazz Festival in Trinidad, while Tobago’s annual Jazz Festival attracts names like Whitney Houston, Shakira, and Rod Stewart. Multitudes of local events welcome visitors year-round. Can’t schedule a program around the festival that suits your group best? No problem—T&T offers groups access to local talent that can recreate festivities for theme events or day-long parties. Island Adventures Trinidad’s capital city offers a distinctive urban setting, an unexpected virtue to many planners with experience in the Caribbean, and is exciting in its nightlife, dining, and theater opportunities. The calm waters of the port make the perfect docking spot for international yachting aficionados. Trinidad’s interior offers plenty for the adventurer, with rain forest hiking and mountain biking excursions popular teambuilding experiences, as are visits to the Gasparee Caves, bird watching at the internationally renowned Asa Wright Nature Centre and Caroni Bird Sanctuary, or simply relaxing for an afternoon on the dramatic expanses of Maracas Beach, surrounded by the lush green hillsides and wild mango trees. Tobago is the picture of island living, with plenty of sun and sea and stunning coral reefs for snorkeling and diving lovers. This pristine island is a nesting ground for the endangered leatherback turtle and offers visitors a chance to see such exotic wildlife close up.

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Meeting News - September 8, 2008

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