Jeremy McVean, president of the Bahamas Hotel Association revealed that while the figures for the first seven months of the year were on par with those of last year, the projected figures for September were "slower than any other September on record."
Mr. McVean who is also the general manager for Comfort Suites said his hotel plans to use this period to tackle projects that are more difficult to attempt while the hotel is full. "It's easier to do these projects when we do not have too many people around us. So that's the silver lining to a bad business situation."
Mr. McVean projects occupancy for Comfort Suites in September to be around 39 per cent. He admits that this may be a rather optimistic figure and that what the hotel might actually see is a 30 per cent occupancy rate.
Mr. McVean admits that these dismal projections are the same for most of the hotels. "The general comment I am getting from around the industry are very similar for this month."
He revealed that the situation is exacerbated by the fact that the larger hotels like Atlantis, Wyndham and Radisson have very little group events planned at this time. "Often that can be used to kind of sure up what could be a slow month." He admits that without these functions, all the hotels are basically chasing the same few people.
Richard Hall, general manager of Holiday Inn Junkanoo Beach admitted he expected September to be slow. He said his hotel is hoping that the 50 Cents concert will drum up additional business. "We figure there might probably be last minute people coming in from the family islands or coming in for a long weekend to view the concert," he said.
Mr. Hall revealed that while his hotel was projecting bookings of 40 per cent, there were no plans to reduce the number of employees; he stressed that the hotel will resort to consolidating labour and expense.
Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino also projected bookings of around 40 per cent, according to General Manager, Robert Sands. He said the hotel will close two of its towers and revert to shorter workweeks to cut costs. He emphasised that everything the hotel plans to do will be in accordance with the industrial agreement between the hotel and employees.
On the far end of the island, South Ocean Golf and Beach Resort predicted even more dismal room rates. The hotel expects occupancy to fall to 21.2 per cent for September, which equals to approximately 1,450 room nights.
The hotel will have to invoke the terms of the bargaining unit and ask employees to take extra days off or use up any vacation time they might have left, Kirkwood Simmons, general manager of the hotel said.
Mr. Simmons said that although the market will be flat for September, the hotel would use this time to try and drum up business. He revealed that a sales force is presently on the road attempting to drum up more international business.
Mr. McVean said that while September would be bad for both small and large hotels, the smaller hotel might have tougher time because they are not be able to offer the big incentives afforded by the larger hotels.
Mr. McVean is confident however that all is not lost and once the industry gets past the next five to six weeks, there will be signs of recovery.
By Martella Matthews, The Nassau Guardian
