CMEx to honour three Jamaicans in Miami
Published:Monday | November 13, 2023 | 12:08 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Homegrown hotelier Nicola Madden-Greig will be among three Jamaicans honoured next month by the United States (US)-based Caribbean Media Exchange at its 2023 CMEx Leadership Awards and Fundraiser to be held in Miami on December 2.
With more than 25 years’ experience in hospitality, Madden-Greig, the group director of marketing and sales for The Courtleigh Hospitality Group, in Kingston, is currently serving as president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), where she has elevated the profile of the region and assisted destinations and CHTA members with their post-pandemic rebound.
Florida-based Jamaican-American broadcaster Pat Montague, the voice of the Caribbean community in South Florida, as well as Jamaican-American hotelier Kevin O’Reggio, strategic account director of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc, will also be recognised by the non-profit group.
“We have dedicated our organisation to enhancing the capacity of the media, government, the travel and tourism industry, and local communities to ensure that the people and the environment of the Caribbean region reap the benefits of the bread-and-butter tourism industry,” CMEx’s president, Bevan Springer, told The Gleaner on the weekend.
Contribution to region
Springer described the 2023 honourees as individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the Caribbean region and beyond and went on to reveal the likes of pioneering media practitioners such as Jamaica-based Barbadian Julian Rogers, who recently retired as the managing director of the Jamaica Observer, capping a distinguished career in media management, who will share the December 2 spotlight.
Heads of prominent regional tourism institutions will also be celebrated during the luncheon awards ceremony. They include Michele Paige, president of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) and St Lucia’s Dona Regis-Prosper, the first female secretary-general and CEO of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).
The event will feature a live travel auction, with proceeds dedicated to supporting tourism education and charitable causes within the Caribbean.
Rosa Harris, director of tourism of The Cayman Islands and chairman of CTO’s board of directors, along with Joy Jibrilu, CEO of Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board (the first woman to serve in this role), will receive well-deserved honours, added Springer while former CTO chairman and commissioner of the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, Beverly Nicolson-Doty, now CEO of the Florida-based Figment Design advertising agency, will also be recognised.
Rounding out the impressive list of recipients are pioneering hoteliers Ewald Biemans, owner and CEO of Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort in Aruba, and Stan Hartling, owner and CEO of The Hartling Group in the Turks and Caicos.