Increasing tensions in the Middle East have left a number of leading hotel executives walking on eggshells, despite no significant changes in hotel bookings since the war in Iraq began last week.
Appearing as a guest on Love 97’s “Issues of the Day” radio talk show yesterday, Executive Director of the Nassau Tourism Development Board Frank Comito indicated that while many hotels throughout the capital are not reporting any massive bow outs at this time, there is a lot of uncertainty looming.
“Our hotels have not seen a dramatic fallout, but at this point, people are thinking about their options, so we’re basically in a hold mode,” Mr. Comito said. “But this is certainly not to say that we are facing an entirely doom and gloom situation.”
In an interview with the Bahama Journal, General Manager of the Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino, Robert Sands said his hotel has not yet recorded any cancellations, despite increasing tensions in Iraq.
Mr. Sands added that although there has not been any significant change to the hotel’s booking patterns, the number of calls streaming into the reservations department has decreased slightly.
“We don’t know whether this decrease is temporary or whether it can be attributed directly to the war, but these are figures we are comparing to this time last year,” he said. “Due to Easter’s late arrival – this year the holiday falls mid April as opposed to March – future bookings during this time appear stronger than those last year.”
Still, Mr. Sands said it is too soon to celebrate.
Instead, he said, the hotel will take things one day at a time.
Mr. Sands was quick to point out, however, that as long as the war does not result in terrorist attacks throughout the world, The Bahamas’ hotel sector should be able to weather the storm “quite well.”
Austin Weekes, Sales Director of Holiday Inn Nassau and the all-inclusive Sunspree Resorts, said those properties have also been spared the onslaught of cancellations and a drastic decline in bookings.
According to Mr. Weekes, last night the Sunspree Resort, Paradise Island recorded a 92 percent occupancy rate, while the Holiday Inn Junkanoo Beach located on West Bay Street, recorded an impressive 96 percent.
“Although we do not anticipate the numbers [staying] in this range considering the war, we still expect to keep those guests who are coming in and who are not canceling, as comfortable as they are at home,” Mr. Weeks said.
Guests who opt to postpone or cancel their visits would only be charged a one-night penalty, he said.
Having only just reopened its doors last December, Club Med, San Salvador is also reportedly holding its own. The resort is said to be “booked solid” throughout April.
The good news was also evident at Sol Kerzner’s Atlantis Paradise Island Resort where over the weekend the hotel was reportedly completely booked. Local economists say hotel bookings are a key day-to-day indication of the overall health of the economy
While the war can create serious tensions for the Bahamas, Mr. Comito said the country must use its close proximity to the United States to its advantage.
Recognizing this, tourism officials have already started redirecting their marketing campaign to drum home to Americans that in times of war, they should stay closer to home.
Prime Minister Perry Christie said last week that officials are ready to re-direct their marketing initiatives further, should that become necessary.
Many businesspersons, meanwhile, have been preparing for a further economic downturn for sometime.
Immediately after the September 11 terror attacks, many businesses used the ‘down time’ to determine how best they could improve the country’s tourism product, through a series of training and productivity seminars, Mr. Comito said.
“We have the yellow flag up right now and we have to be very cautious and plan as we go along because it’s just too difficult to read the whole thing, just yet,” he said.
Executive Vice-President of the Bahamas Hotel Association Basil Smith agreed.
Mr. Smith said that now that the war has started, his members are in a state of anxiety considering the sudden and dramatic decline in demand for travel to the region following the terrorist attacks on the United States.
Luckily, he said, it was all short-lived. But times have changed since then. The war has triggered fluctuating fuel prices and airline cutbacks.
With the war now underway, dozens of major airlines have taken emergency measures such as cutting back flight schedules – particularly to and from the Middle East – as more and more people are expected to delay traveling.
Some airlines have also started laying off workers. Northwest Airlines, the fourth-biggest carrier, is cutting 4,900 jobs and 12 percent of its flights.
ﾠMeanwhile, the world’s largest airline, American Airlines, is cutting international flights by 6 percent in April and has warned that more cuts may become necessary. Its domestic routes have already been slashed.
The number three carrier in the United States, Continental Airlines, is cutting 1,200 jobs in order to help cut costs by $500 million.
“Certainly, the impact is going to be anything from significant to severe to acute,” said Mr. Smith, whose organization represents 80 percent of the hotels in the Bahamas.
“We don’t know where it would end,” he said.
By Macushla Pinder, The Bahama Journal
