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BERTHIA MONICA PARLE- St Lucia
Born in Castries, St. Lucia, she
received her education at St.
Joseph’s Convent in Castries. Berthia
began her career at the Government
treasury, where she received a CIDA
Scholarship to pursue a Diploma
Course in Middle
Management/Hospitality Studies at
the Barbados Hotel School from
1973-1975. |
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She
graduated with honours. In addition, she
received the K.R. Hunte Award for
Excellence, for the most outstanding
student and the Pink Pelican Award for
excellence for the best Housekeeping
student. This was the beginning of an
illustrious 27-year hospitality career.
On
completion of her Diploma Course,
Berthia held several Housekeeping and
Accounting positions at an Executive
level in various fine Resorts in St.
Lucia, Bermuda and Germany where she
became fluent in German.
In
1983 Berthia (now married) returned to
St. Lucia and after one Accounting
position at Steingerberger Hotel, she
joined in with several other investors
and opened St. Lucia’s famous “Capones”
Italian Restaurant/Pizzaria and Sweet
Dreams Ice Cream Parlour, and then
opened a second restaurant, The Patio. Berthia
was the major managerial force behind
the success of these restaurants.
After
ten years in restaurant operations,
Berthia decided to return to the hotel
industry, as the General Manager of Bay
Gardens Hotel in 1995, together with her
husband.
As
General Manager of this 71-room resort,
Berthia has in just six years, created
another success story. Together with her
husband and her management team, they
have a facility which is a market leader
in the small hotel sector, being used as
a model by lending institutions, as a
hotel that exemplifies the highest
standards of service, excellence and
profitability. As a result, Bay Gardens
now enjoys average occupancies of 80%
due to her creativity, marketing skills,
knowledge of the hotel and tourism
industry, and a dedication to
consistently strive for perfection and
total quality operations in all her
endeavours. Bay Gardens has also gained
the reputation as one of the foremost
small hotels in the Caribbean
region. She is also responsible for
marketing the new Bay Gardens Inn, and
working very closely with the Hotel’s
General Manager.
Berthia herself is widely considered to
be one of the most powerful women in
OECS tourism, and St. Lucia’s foremost
small hotelier. Her contribution to the
hotel sector and tourism in general are
well documented and her dedication,
commitment and professionalism are
greatly admired by her peers in the
industry. Her influence, energy, and
enthusiasm are admirable qualities,
which she brought to her appointment as
Chairperson of the CHA Small Hotels
Committee from 1998 - 2000.
Mrs.
Parle conducted several training courses
for the small hotel sector in the
Bahamas, Dominica and Tortola, and was
instrumental in organizing two
successful Caribbean Small Hotel
Retreats in St. Lucia, giving
independent hotels the knowledge and
tools to survive in this fiercely
competitive environment.
Mrs.
Parle also played a major role as a
panelist, moderator and keynote speaker
at every Caribbean Media Exchange on
Sustainable Tourism (CMEx) meetings - a
gathering of regional, leading
journalists and Editors from the region,
Europe and North America, to educate
journalists on a myriad of tourism
topics, to better assist in educating
the populace at large and creating a
greater awareness of tourism as the
engine of growth and its impact on the
economies of the region.
Berthia has been married for twenty-four
years to John Anthony Parle, a fellow
Irish Hotelier. In fact, she will be
celebrating her 25th Wedding
Anniversary on November 17th,
2004. They have a nineteen-year-old son.
She
held several positions in the tourism
industry including President Elect of
the Caribbean Hotel Association,
(former) President of the St. Lucia
Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA)
and Director of the St. Lucia
Development Bank, Member of the St.
Lucia Tourist Board and Deputy
Chairperson of the Board’s Marketing
Committee, Chairperson of the Caribbean
Hotel Association Advocacy Committee,
(former) 4th and 1st
Vice President of the Caribbean Hotel
Association (CHA). She was inaugurated
to President in June 2004 for a 2-year
term – June 2004 to June 2006. Berthia
is the first woman in the history of
this regional organization to be
appointed to such high-ranking positions
of this prestigious Organisation.
In
June 2004, Berthia Parle was awarded the
honor of Member of the Order of the
British Empire, MBE, on the
birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
II of England.
She
has also received the following Awards
and Recognition:
- SLHTA
Crystal Award – 1998
- Hotelier of the year – 1999 (St.
Lucia)
- An
Honorary degree – the Associates of
Science Degree of
Hotel
& Restaurant Management from the Jamaica
Western
Hospitality Institute in May 2002
-
Twice selected Among “The Most Powerful
Women in Travel” -
awarded by Travel Agent Magazine (August
2002 and August 2003)
- Several other awards of Appreciation
around the Caribbean region,
where
she has given voluntarily and generously
of her time and
expertise, out of love for her
profession, and for the hospitality and
tourism industry.
-
Caribbean Hotelier of the Year 2002/2003
-
Executive of the Year 2006 (Received in
April 2006)