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Island Highlight
Kite Boarding takes surfing to new heights with the constant tradewinds. A common spot for this popular activity is the Vieux Fort area at The Reef Beach Café. Clinics, seminars and workshops are available for those willing and ready to take on the challenge. Windsurfing is also available. For more information visit the Kitesurf Website. |
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Coal Pot Restaurant
A review of Coal Pot Restaurant in St. Lucia is featured in Gourmet Adventure. There is also a  video available. It covers the art, ambiance, service, cuisine and even the view and neighborhood. The review is written by Ian Clayton, who writes that part of the reason to visit The Coal Pot is the view.
“Dining at Coal Pot is special. You should reserve in advance and make sure you get a table right on the waterfront. You are so close to the water that you can easily put your toe into it. It’s a shallow beach front table and at night the sea is lit up so that you can see the fish swimming by. The water is clear and even the pebbles under the water are visible from your table,” he wrote. The restaurant itself is a feast for the eyes. “The art on the walls and the tables is by Michelle Elliott. Her style is “whimsical and fun” with vibrant colors and a very personal style with that touch of fantasy. She captures the spirit of St. Lucia and the sunny ambiance and colors of the Caribbean,” he wrote.
The Coal Pot is one of many fine St. Lucian restaurants and gourmet dining is one of the many highlights of a St. Lucian holiday adventure.
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Social Media Seminar
The Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA) has proposed a Social Media Marketing Seminar as part of its calendar of activities this year. The seminar will take place at the conference room of the Bay Gardens Hotel on Thursday, January 31, 2013 from 2:00pm. The purpose of this seminar is to educate members on the importance of Social Media Marketing and its impact on the product or services offered and Saint Lucia as a destination. Our primary focus for this Seminar will be on the use of Facebook and Twitter due to their popularity worldwide.
The Forum will be facilitated by Mr. Kirk Elliott an Internet Marketing expert and presentation by Mr. Sanovnik Destang, as he shares his personal victory with Bay Gardens Resorts Social Networks.
The SLHTA extends an invitation to all Marketing and Social Media Specialists to take part in this seminar. The cost to attend this forum will be $60.00 per person. For more information or to RSVP your attendance, please contact Mr. Wendel George at admin@slhta.org or 452-5978/ 453-1811. |
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SLBS and COPANT’s AGM
The Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS) in meeting its commitment to the development and promotion of standards for the economic development of Saint Lucia as well as the protection of the safety of consumers and the environment, is pleased to be hosting the 2013 Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT) Annual General Meeting (AGM) from April 21 to April 26, 2013. The Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT) is a civil nonprofit association. The object of COPANT like that of the SLBS is to promote the development of standardization and related activities with the aim of promoting commercial, industrial, scientific and technological development to the benefit of economic and commercial integration, while facilitating cooperation in the intellectual, scientific, economic and social spheres.
This conference is five full days of technical sessions and poster sessions on cutting edge issues related to our industry, providing many opportunities for networking and socializing with our colleagues. This would be a wonderful opportunity for your organization to have some visibility in front of an audience who could benefit from your participation in this conference.
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Celebrating Excellence and Art
Derek Walcott was born on January 23, 1930, in the city of Castries Saint Lucia. The experience of growing up on the isolated volcanic island, an ex-British colony, has had a strong influence on Walcott’s life and work. Hon. Walcott attended Saint Mary’s College in his homeland and his first published poem appeared in The Voice of St. Lucia when he was fourteen years old and consisted of forty-four lines of blank verse in 1944. By the age of nineteen, Hon. Walcott had self published two volumes, 25 Poems in 1948 and Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos in 1949, exhibiting a wide range of influences. Gaining a Colonial Development and Welfare scholarship in 1949, he attended the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, from which he graduated in 1953 with a B.A.
While still a student, he began writing plays; his first attempt was Henri Christope in 1951. In both his poetry and plays, Hon. Walcott often deals with the Racial Complexities of the West Indian island and his own racial heritage. His two grandfathers were white plantation owners, while both of his grandmothers were black and descendants of slaves. This is clearly felt as Hon. Walcott expresses his feelings of personal isolation, caught between his European cultural orientation and the black folk cultures of his native Caribbean, through some of his earlier work such as; Selected Poems in 1964, The Castaway in 1965 and The Gulf in 1969.
Hon. Walcott’s first successful play was The Sea at Dauphin in 1954, this contributed in part to him obtaining a Rockefeller Fellowship to study the American theater, playwriting and directing in New York City from 1957-1958. Subsequent to his fellowship, he produced one of his best-known plays, Ti-Jean and His Brothers in 1958 based on a West Indian folktale about brothers who seek to overpower the Devil. Upon his return to Trinidad, in 1959, Hon. Walcott founded the Trinidad Theater Workshop, which provided a forum for his plays. For the purpose of the workshop, Hon. Walcott wrote his best-known play, Dream on Monkey Mountain in 1967, a West Indian’s quest to claim his identity and his heritage. The play won the Obie Award for distinguished foreign play of 1971. His breakthrough collection was, In a Green Night: Poems, in 1962.
Hon. Walcott’s honors include a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award, a Royal Society of Literature Award and in 1988, the Queen’s Medal for Poetry. He is also an honorary member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He currently divides his time between his home in Saint Lucia and New York City.
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Remembering Intelligence
Arthur Lewis was born on January 23, 1915, in the city of Castries, Saint Lucia. An unusually intelligent student with mental capabilities way beyond his years, he was then promoted two classes ahead of his age and therefore graduated from Saint Mary’s College at the age of fourteen. Educated at the London School of Economics with his Bachelor of Science and a Ph. D degree by 1940, he was further employed as a full-time Professor by the University of Manchester and later Princeton University until he retired in 1983. Sir Lewis challenged economic principles and examined the norms of society of the day.
Although Engineering was his first love, he was unable to pursue it because of racial discrimination and prejudices that prevented people of African descents from studying in fields beyond Law and Medicine. Sir Lewis entered the field of Economics instead, which enabled him to excel to international heights. He stated, “I never meant to be an economist. My father wanted me to be a lawyer… I did not want to be a doctor either, nor a teacher. That put me in a hole, since law, medicine, preaching and teaching were the only professions open to blacks in my day. I wanted to be an engineer, but neither the colonial government nor the sugar plantations would hire a black engineer.”
In 1959, Sir Lewis was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and headed the Caribbean Development Bank as the President, from 1970-1973. He published many articles and his work was well-known for “the Theory of Economic Growth” and “The Agony of the Eight.”
In 1978, Sir Lewis was knighted and became the first West-Indian to win a Noble Prize and the first black-man to gain the Nobel Laureate award for Economics, the first ever academic prize. This was indeed a great honor to Saint Lucians and by large the entire Caribbean. Sir Lewis then continued to serve as the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. Sir Arthur Lewis died on June 15, 1991 in Barbados and is buried on the grounds of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, named in his honor. Sir Lewis’ achievements have also been recognized by the University of Manchester by the naming of “The Arthur Lewis Building” opened in 2007.
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“Lift Your Senses”
The Saint Lucia Tourist Board on Monday unveiled a striking new brand campaign themed, “Lift Your Senses,” that captures vacation moments in a fresh, journalistic style. Designed to evoke an emotional response, the campaign portrays the essence of Saint Lucia as an island that literally lifts visitors’ five senses – sight, taste, hearing, feel and smell.
The campaign was created by ISM, the award-winning Boston-based travel and lifestylemarketing firm, in close collaboration with the Saint Lucia Tourist Board. “From strategy development through to execution, the ‘Lift Your Senses’ campaign truly captures what sets Saint Lucia apart from other Caribbean destinations in a way that we believe will differentiate our island in an extremely crowded competitive set,” said Louis Lewis, Director of Tourism for the Saint Lucia Tourist Board, in making the announcement.
The new campaign will break in January with online advertising initially followed by print placement in major consumer publications and television to be launched later in the year. New collateral was officially rolled out for tour operators at the Caribbean Travel Marketplace, held on January 20 through January 22 at Atlantis, Paradise Island, and is available for distribution in North America.
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Chefs Administrative Skills Course
On Wednesday, January 23, 2013, Chefs from eight (8) leading hotels received Certificates of Achievement, marking their completion of a special six week Chefs Administrative/Supervisory Skills Course. This is part of an ongoing collaboration between Monroe College’s School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts and the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA).
Last semester the chefs exchanged being in their kitchens and sat in classrooms at Monroe College to enhance their supervisory skills. Executive Vice President of SLHTA, Mr. Noorani Azeez stated, “Both Monroe College and the SLHTA are of the conviction that the true competitiveness of Saint Lucia’s Tourism product lies in the expertise of its human resources. In order for us to maximize the benefits of our Tourism product, we must not fall short to answer the call for the development of our people. We are pleased that to date eight chefs have successfully participated in the programme and are very hopeful that this year the numbers would double and even triple when other establishments recognize the demanding need to develop the administrative skills in their technical workforce.”
Course leader, Winston Benjamin says, “The purpose of the programme was to enhance the quality of food service delivery. Also, it was to strengthen the chefs’ capacity to cope effectively with staff and food service problems from a managerial perspective.” He noted, “Many chefs have great kitchen and food related skills, but in order to get the best from those whom they supervise and work with they need quality people and supervisory skills.”
The graduating chefs include;
- Bay Gardens Hotel – Franklyn Roberts
- Bel Jou Hotel – Anthony Alleyne
- Cap Maison -Reefer Leonce
- Smugglers Cove – Marcelus Jean
- Smugglers Cove – Sylvester Romulus
- St. James Morgan Bay – Carlen Gordon-Pierre
- Stonefield Estate Resort – Meshach Alexis
- Ti Kaye Village – Joel Edward
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Outstanding Staff – Odeen Martin
Odeen Martin was born March 21, 1986 in Jamaica. In school, Odeen had a love for Cricket and his dream was to become the next Brian Lara. He was also the school’s team captain and under his leadership, they won three titles of Parish champions. Unfortunately, Cricket was not his calling and his love for the game faded away as he grew up. After completing High School he attended a culinary school in Jamaica and was taught the basic cooking skills, which has become very beneficial to him. Odeen admits that he still yearns to learn more about the culinary art.
In 2006 he embarked on a new adventure in search for an opportunity to become a young Chef in St. Lucia. Being a teenager at the time, he wanted to experience a new culture and learn new things. Odeen describes it as “the best decision he could have made.” His first job in Saint Lucia was a restaurant called Castaways, but his mind was set to work for famous Chef Bobo which he calls the leading Chef in the industry. In 2008 after months of persistence, he gained the opportunity to work for Chef Bobo at an exquisite restaurant called Fire Grill.
Odeen greatest achievement was when he represented St. Lucia in the Taste of the Caribbean Competition which was held in Miami, June of 2012. He also was awarded a Bronze Medal for the Beef Competition in 2012. In December of that same year, Odeen was promoted to Head Chef at Fire Grill where he continues to gain experience and do his absolute best to ensure that he succeeds in the field of Culinary Arts which is a thriving industry. To him, “cooking is an art and a personal passion.”
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Become a Member of the SLHTA today…
Members include large and small hotels; villas, boutique hotels; restaurants; airlines; tour companies; travel agents; car rental companies; banks; security services; sporting companies; statutory boards; public utilities; taxi services; manufacturers and suppliers of other goods and services.
MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES:
Active Hotel: Any individual, partnership, or cooperation managing or engaged in the operation of a hotel.
Allied Member: Any individual, partnership, or cooperation providing a service to the hotels or associated with the tourism industry but not operating a hotel
Sustaining Member: Any person, firm, or cooperation whose hotel property is under construction and not fully operational.
Affiliate Member: Any recognized association of Members
Honorary Member: Any individual who has rendered long and distinguished service to the tourism sector and has been so honored by the Board of Directors
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Chefs Administrative Skills CourseOn Wednesday, January 23, 2013, Chefs from eight (8) leading hotels received Certificates of Achievement, marking their completion of a special six week Chefs Administrative/Supervisory Skills Course. This is part of an ongoing collaboration between Monroe College’s School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts and the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA).
