A Statement from the Turks & Caicos Hotel & Tourism Associations

#Providenciales, June 7, 2018 – Turks and Caicos – The Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association [TCHTA] is proudly preparing to send off the Culinary Team to compete once again in the Taste of the Caribbean competition hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association [CHTA]. This will mark the third year in a row that the Turks & Caicos Islands have been represented in this international cooking competition and the TCHTA is looking to repeat the success of last year and bring home gold medals for our ‘Beautiful by Nature’ islands.

Before the TCHTA took a team to the competition in 2016, our country had not participated in 20 years. Since then, the TCHTA’s efforts to reposition the spotlight on our country’s culinary talent has resulted in our Team bringing home a silver medal their first year back in the competition followed by a gold medal in 2017.  Considering the multitude of competitors from across the Caribbean that has been involved in the competition over its 25-year history, this was no small feat.

Each year the TCHTA sends invitations to all of its members inclusive of restaurants with the hopes of assembling a super team of top culinary talent. The success of the Team wouldn’t be possible without the continued support of these members.  The organizations that accept the invitation contribute by providing their top chefs and allowing them to participate in training as well as the competition itself.  In addition, they provide sponsorship which aids with registration fees, training, and travel.

While it is our hope for every chef in the country to get an opportunity to participate, we encourage restaurants to join forces with the TCHTA as Allied members to further strengthen our Culinary Team’s presence in the international realm while we continue promoting the talents while inspiring our little chefs and becoming mentors for our culinary Adventure programs.

We have always welcomed and expressed keen interest in working with local and influential individuals in the industry who would bring additional talent to the Team and the Junior Culinary Adventure program.  The junior program has seen junior chefs such as Robinangel Simons, Martin Wilkins,Christin Greene and Wayne Gardiner and others grow through the ranks and have even represented Turk & Caicos and won gold at several international and regional culinary events.

We are extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve, and this year the Culinary Team will be led by Coach Executive Chef Edwin Gallardo of Seven Stars Resort and Chef Colin Watson of Beaches Resort.  This incredible leadership from our members is a huge asset and commitment that should be recognized.  The team will also feature former Lit’l chefs, Wilkiens Martin and Christin Greene along with current Lit’l Chefs Inga Stubbs and Kevin Missick.  Derrick Carter, Aristotle Florida, Joseph Charles, Vadivel Raju and Lauren Callighen.

TCHTA and its member affiliation (membership) with the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association [CHTA], is what allows the Turks and Caicos Islands to take part in the Taste of the Caribbean competition.  Taste of the Caribbean is a CHTA initiative and therefore sets all rules and requirement for members to follows.  We are fortunate to be able to participate in this initiative of the CHTA whose focus, as is our own, is primarily on private sector partnerships for the promotion of the tourism product.

We are continuously working to improve our tourism product for the advancement of our brand and we welcome our members of the culinary community to have open dialogues and provide feedback to the TCHTA on how we can better represent our brand locally and internationally.

For more information, interested persons and organizations are encouraged to call the TCHTA office on 339-5787 or visit their social media pages.

Release: TCHTA