(L-R) Bahamas Cabinet Ministers and government officials with Grand Bahama Port Authority executives and former NBA player Rick Fox in front of the The Bahamas stand.

MIAMI — Aug 6, 2013 — Great business relationships and opportunities were realized and strengthened this year at the 17th Annual International African American Hotel Ownership & Investment Summit and Trade show. 

 
Former National Basketball Association champion Rick Fox and The Bahamas’ Prime Minister Perry Christie also made an appearance at the closing of the event, where four hotel industry leaders and a congressman were granted top honors from the National Association of Black Hotel Owners Operators and Developers (NABHOOD) for their work in the industry.
 
Speaking at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel, PM Christie assured the 200-plus attendees that The Bahamas was still a prime destination for tourism, as evidenced by several new developments in the pipeline, and that any investments in the country were made even better by the historical ties between the US and The Bahamas.
 
Several outstanding hoteliers were honored at the annual awards luncheon, with the marquee Freedom Rider award going to Bill Fortier from Hilton Worldwide.
Receiving the NABHOOD award for Emerging Hotel Owner of The Year was David Hunt, President and CEO of Hunt Services Inc. Hampton Inn and Suites.  Sheila Johnson, Founder and CEO of Salamander Hospitality LLC, got the NABHOOD Trail Blazer Award.  Congresswoman Frederica Wilson won the NABHOOD Chairman’s Award.  The yearly Outstanding Hotelier Award from the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association went to LeRoy Howard & Deanne Ayers-Howard, Esq. from Howard Hospitality of Cascades, LLC and TownePlace Suites Sterling Dulles North.  The NABHOOD Hank Thomas Freedom Rider Award went to Senior V.P. of Development Americas and Hilton Worldwide Bill Fortier.
Mr. Thomas was the keynote speaker at the luncheon and encouraged more black and minority business ownership.

“A people cannot be free unless they own and supply the businesses that supply their needs,” he said.  “We have to change the way they think of us.”
 
The conference started on July 26, with African American hotel owners, top hospitality industry professionals and international and national leaders meeting with government delegates from throughout the Caribbean region week, including Jamaica, Barbados, Anguilla and Turks & Caicos.
This year’s theme was “Networking-Connect for a Lifetime” and provided insight of how the travel and hotel market has begun a turnaround and many opportunities were becoming available. 
The four-day educational summit is also designed to inform attendees on the ways to become a hotel owner or investor, share minority investment trends, explore supplier opportunities, how to market to minorities and diversity issues affecting the industry.
 

ABOUT: NABHOOD seeks to increase the number of African-Americans developing, managing, operating and owning hotels; increase vendor opportunities & executive level jobs for minorities, thereby creating wealth within the African-American community.