La Romana Appoints Executive Director

Kelly Robinson Schaun

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. October 14, 2008

JANUARY 24, 2008. The La Romana Hotel Association today announced the appointment of Kelly Robinson Schaun to the position of Executive Director). In this role, she will direct the marketing, public relations, advertising and sustainable tourism programs for the growing destination of La Romana and neighboring Bayahibe on the southeastern coast of the Dominican Republic.

Shaun is a veteran of the hospitality industry with experience in hotel marketing and operations, economic development, regional development and environmental quality control. Most recently, she served as Director of Environmental Affairs and Social Projects for Grupo Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, where she oversaw the operation of five departments, including environmental concerns, quality control and education. She also directed the company's participation in the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation.

For nearly five years, Schaun served as the Executive Director of the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), a subsidiary of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA). In this role she developed environmental and social tourism programs throughout the region, including international certification systems for environmental sanitation and health standards, hotel industry employee training programs and a pilot program encouraging implementation of "green" technologies by CHA members.

Schaun also served as Director of the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation and worked for several years directing and education resource center in La Vega, Dominican Republic, on behalf of the U.S. Peace Corps.

Throughout her career, she has conceptualized and directed a number of important initiatives throughout the Caribbean. "Punta Cana Group Against AIDS," a prevention program aimed at the hotel sector; a Health and Environmental project which developed hygiene standards for the tourism sector in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas; and Green Globe Certification of five hotels in Bayahibe, Dominican Republic.

She has represented the private sector tourism industry in the region in numerous forums, including a presentation to Heads of State at the Caricom Tourism Summit in the Bahamas and the Vision 20/20 spearheaded by the World Bank For her work, she was recognized in 2000 by Travel Agent Magazine as one of the industry's Rising Stars.

She holds a bachelor's degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from Hilton College in Houston, Texas and certifications in a number of professional areas, including Leadership Development from the United Nations. Most recently she graduated cum laude with a Masters in Regional & Community Planning from the School of Architecture at the University of Texas.