CHTA highlights its AI Guidebook Series and CHIEF 2026 programming to help Caribbean hospitality businesses navigate AI’s opportunities and workforce implications
MIAMI, Fla.:--- This year’s World Tourism Day on September 27 carries the theme “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” framing AI as the industry’s next major transformation and asking how it can support smarter decision-making, stronger skills, and better-managed destinations. For the Caribbean, the opportunity is not technology for technology’s sake, but using AI in ways that strengthen competitiveness, improve productivity, support the workforce, and enhance the distinctive experiences at the heart of the Caribbean hospitality and tourism industry.
The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is marking World Tourism Day by highlighting the practical resources and industry programming it has developed to help advance that opportunity across the region.
Tourism has always moved forward through innovation, and AI is arriving as operators across the region weigh real operational decisions: which tools to buy, how to protect guest data, what happens to roles as tasks change, and where the return shows up. CHTA has made technology and innovation an important area of focus, developing resources that help Caribbean hospitality businesses understand emerging technologies and, increasingly, translate them into practical application.
The association’s AI Guidebook Series now runs to three editions. The third and latest edition, the AI Workforce Transformation Guide for Caribbean Hospitality, shifts the focus from understanding AI to putting it to work responsibly, helping hospitality leaders prepare their people, identify manageable opportunities for adoption and translate AI into practical business value. It is supported by ready-to-use tools covering implementation planning, governance, vendor evaluation, workforce readiness and ROI.
“World Tourism Day puts a global spotlight on AI this year, but for the Caribbean hospitality industry the question is a very practical one: where can it create real value?” said CHTA President Sanovnik Destang. “The opportunity is not simply to adopt new technology, but to use it thoughtfully to improve performance, strengthen our people and enhance the guest experience. CHTA’s role is to help the industry navigate that transition with practical guidance grounded in the realities of our region.”
AI Takes a Central Place at CHIEF 2026
The conversation continues in person at the Caribbean Hospitality Industry Exchange Forum (CHIEF), taking place November 16-18 at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lord’s Castle All-Inclusive Resort under the theme Caribbean Tourism 2030: Resilient. Regenerative. Ready. Technology and AI is one of six content pillars, with sessions including The AI-Powered Hospitality Business: What Every Leader Needs to Know Before 2030 and Transforming Hospitality Performance: AI for Operations, Guest Experience and Commercial Growth.
The emphasis will be on practical application, bringing together hospitality leaders, operators and experts to examine what is working, where the challenges remain and how Caribbean businesses can make smarter decisions about AI adoption.
Access the Resources
A preview of the AI Workforce Transformation Guide for Caribbean Hospitality is available at caribbeanhotelandtourism.com/chta-today/chta-publications-ai-guidebook, with the complete guidebook and implementation tools available to CHTA members through the member portal.
Registration for CHIEF 2026, November 16-18 in Barbados, is open to members and non-members. Visit chtachief.com for program details, registration, special travel offers, and other event information.