The September to October tourism “slow season” is now here, during which several hotels will be experiencing lower than usual occupancy, and seven are expected to close temporarily..However, Sandals Resorts International, which operates three Saint Lucia properties, has opted instead to have staff on rotation.
“Saint Lucia and certainly our staff remain very dear to us,” Winston Anderson, Managing Director, Sandals Eastern Caribbean, told St. Lucia Times.
“Our journey started here in 1993 and we now have three amazing properties. A number of our senior leaders come out of Saint Lucia and it speaks to the quality, the warmth, the friendliness and that passion in Saint Lucia,” Anderson stated.
He explained that the quality of the visitor experience, the service they receive and the people of Saint Lucia contribute to the success Sandals has enjoyed here.
In August, Sandals Barbados laid off 200 workers before the slow season.
Anderson responded when asked whether this created any anxieties among Sandals employees in Saint Lucia.
“I would say first of all that it would be human nature to be anxious about what they see happening elsewhere and to say there wasn’t, yes there were. However we try to understand the situation from the perspective that this is not unique to Saint Lucia but across the Caribbean. During this period, occupancy tends to be low and one of the factors is the tropical hurricane season and people being uncertain of what is happening and there are many other factors that impact people deciding to travel,” he explained.
“Our approach is that yes we always look at downsizing during this time but we prefer to have our staff on rotation because we want our staff to always be able to put food on the table. Therefore, our strategy has always been to rotate. So instead of you working a full week we will do a couple days less and you are still able to earn a living and we continue to market,” the Sandals official told St. Lucia Times.
Anderson also acknowledged the powerful influence of social media and personal interactions in favour of the resorts.
“So every single interaction I always say to our team and to everyone in fact, that every visitor, everyone out there is a marketing agent. Every interaction with a guest is going to create an experience to allow them to not only come back but encourage other people to come and I think that this is the best way to combat this period,” Anderson stated.
