St. Kitts Marriott prepares for challenging year
No plans for mass layoffs
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THOUGH the world is currently facing gross economic and financial decline expected to continue through most of 2009, the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and Royal Beach Casino has reconfirmed its commitments to weather the storm and ensure the continued contributions of the hotel to the nation.
General Manager of the Resort Flor van der Vaart told SKNVibes that 2008 started as a very fruitful year for the hotel primarily due to the hurricane impact on Mexico resulting in its business being diverted to the other islands. Projections were “very fair” as it related to what type of business the hotel could expect however van der Vaart noted that the international financial crisis had major impacts on the resort.
“The ripple effect of these types of impacts was definitely felt. Unfortunately, we had two or three groups who cancelled on us and the main reason wasn’t St. Kitts; the reason was that many agencies attempted to fly under the radar for stakeholders and shareholders. The already-booked individual customers still came but we saw a drop in the typical booking cycles, specifically in the last quarter.
Whereas people usually booked at least 6 months before travel, some of them booked as close as a week before. When they did come, they were coming on a lower room rate and were spending less.
“We have to ensure that we are competitive in rates; that we have a product that they like and that the service is like no other; these would definitely take care of our customers. In 2008, we saw a slowdown, but overall, the year turned out to be a good year. We are getting ready for some stormy weather for 2009. ~~Adz:Right~~
“St. Kitts will always come out on top; it’s been proven in the past and it will prove itself again. Sometimes you need to take a step back to take a leap forward and what drives that in this case is the financial situation. We have an obligation toward St. Kitts, toward the owner of the hotel and to Marriott and the associates to run this stormy weather in a smart and efficient way and we do that by taking care of each other.”
Van der Vaart stressed the need to partner with other business entities to make sure that smart decisions are made to prompt them to act quickly and bring products to the guests “in a quick and efficient manner”. He also said that the resort’s resources must be managed with an aim to avoid excessive waste, whether in extra working hours or in utilities.
The General Manager revealed that the strategic plan for 2009 included maintaining bookings, although he acknowledged that “there may be some erosions as persons may have to prioritise”. He said 2009 requires an innovative yet realistic approach to avoid mass layoffs as seen in neighbouring islands. However, the country has been reassured of the Marriott’s intention to continue its community service and invest more in the island’s human resource development.
“There are projections to show that business will start picking up in June leading up to 2010 and we need to be ready, flexible and innovative. We are the pride of this island but without the rest of the island being successful, we can’t be successful. I think we are all stakeholders and partners and together we will see a bright future.”
