The award was accepted by (left to right) Sylma Brown Bramble, Director for the Americas, CTO; Loreto Duffy-Mayers, CHENACT Regional Programme Manager; Christiaan Gischler, Lead Energy Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank; and Frank Comito, CEO and Director General, CHTA — Photo by Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)

The Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action Programme (CHENACT), created by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA), and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) to propel the Caribbean hotel sector towards energy efficiency, has won Best Energy Efficiency Project for 2018 at the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF) in Miami.

The awards recognize the leaders in the Caribbean energy sector who have made a profound impact on the region's clean energy development.

CHENACT aims to improve the competitiveness of small and medium sized hotels (less than 400 rooms) in the Caribbean region through improved use of energy with the emphasis on energy efficiency, renewable energy and micro-generation.

Conceptualised in 2009 and completed earlier this year, the initiative has helped over 150 hotels in seven countries receive detailed investment grade energy audits and realize potential savings of 30-50% in energy and up to 50% in water. The project also provided workshops and training tools to hotels. The programme was a joint venture of the CTO and CHTA Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) and was funded by The Inter American Development Bank (IDB), Centre for Development Enterprise (CDE), German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)CHENACT resources are available on CHTA's website and www.chenact.com.

About The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with headquarters in Barbados, offices in New York and London and representation in Canada, is the Caribbean's tourism development agency comprising membership of the region's finest countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish-speaking, as well as a myriad of private sector allied members. The CTO's vision is to position the Caribbean as the most desirable, year-round, warm weather destination, and its purpose is Leading Sustainable Tourism - One Sea, One Voice, One Caribbean.

Among the benefits to its members the organization provides specialized support and technical assistance in sustainable tourism development, marketing, communications, advocacy, human resource development, event planning & execution and research & information technology.