Caribbean’s first Direct Booking Summit In Antigua For Caribbean Travel Marketplace

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), in partnership with Triptease, has unveiled the topics for the inaugural Caribbean Edition of the Direct Booking Summit.

The event will take place Thursday, May 22, in Antigua & Barbuda, immediately following the Caribbean Travel Marketplace.

This new one-day summit will bring together global and regional experts to empower Caribbean hoteliers with strategies, tools, and insights to drive more direct bookings, improve profit margins, and diversify their distribution channels.

“Direct bookings are the key to long-term profitability and independence for Caribbean hoteliers,” said CHTA President Sanovnik Destang.

“This summit is designed to close the loop between relationship-building at Caribbean Travel Marketplace and revenue growth through direct booking strategies.

We’re equipping attendees with exactly what they need to take action—right now.”

To support regional participation, airfare discounts of 25 percent have been confirmed with LIAT and Sunrise Airways for travel to Antigua for attendees.

Topic Highlights Include:

• Direct Bookings in the Caribbean: How to diversify distribution and increase the percentage of hotel direct bookings
• CRM + Email Marketing: Personalization tactics that turn first-time guests into loyal returners
• Rate Parity & Wholesaler Strategy: How to optimize revenue without losing control of distribution
• Digital Marketing Masterclass: Paid ads, retargeting, and conversion strategies that work
• Social Media & TikTok Trends: How to use influencers and short-form content to drive bookings
• PR & SEO Synergy: Using media and content to boost organic visibility and credibility
• Crisis Planning for Resilience: Sustaining direct bookings during downturns or disruptions
• Future Trends: AI, automation, and personalization shaping the next era of hotel marketing

The summit also includes interactive workshops, expert panels, networking opportunities, and real-world takeaways tailored to the needs of Caribbean hoteliers and tourism providers.

“This isn’t just another conference. It’s an action-oriented, solutions-focused day built specifically for the Caribbean hospitality market,” said Vanessa Ledesma, CHTA’s CEO.

“We encourage Caribbean Travel Marketplace attendees to extend their stay—and invite any accommodation providers, including those in nearby destinations with easy access to Antigua, who are looking to improve and increase direct bookings to join us for this rare opportunity to connect, learn, and elevate their strategy.”

Register Today

Attendance is open to all regional hoteliers, tourism suppliers, and marketing professionals. The full agenda and registration information is available at

www.directbookingsummit.com/home-caribbean 

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About the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA)

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is the Caribbean’s leading association representing the interests of national hotel and tourism associations.

For more than 60 years, CHTA has been the backbone of the Caribbean hospitality industry. Working with some 1,000 hotel and allied members, and 32 National Hotel Associations, CHTA is shaping the Caribbean’s future and helping members to grow their businesses. Whether helping to navigate critical issues in sales and marketing, sustainability, legislative issues, emerging technologies, climate change, data and intelligence or, looking for avenues and ideas to better market and manage businesses, CHTA is helping members on issues which matter most.

About Triptease

Triptease delivers online personalization for hotels across their website, booking engine and advertising channels. The result is better guest experiences and more direct bookings. The Triptease platform includes AI-metasearch bidding, SEM, parity management, website personalization and conversion benchmarking. For more information visit www.triptease.com. 

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