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Sunset Resort helping to re-energise tourism industry
Published: Sunday | June 13, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
The lobby at the Sunset Beach Resort and Spa in Montego Bay.
The Hendrickson family-run Sunset Beach Resort and Spa has joined the fight to re-energise the tourism industry to make up for ground lost as a result of the civil unrest in west Kingston recently.
"It is just a matter of com-munication, spreading the message to let people know that Jamaica is doing well and there is no real reason for concern," said Ian Kerr, managing director of Sunset Resports.
"All hotel people are doing what they have to do," he further said.
Kerr admitted that several of the hotel bookings, mainly conferences and group functions, amounting to just under US$1 million, were cancelled as a result of the disturbances, but said that the hotel was now working intensely with travel partners to regain the momentum.
"We can only go out and re-energise the market and get the interest going back in Jamaica again," said Kerr.
"All hotels have to do it," he added. Sunset Beach Resort and Spa
, a 430-room facility located on the tip of the Montego Free Port peninsula in Montego Bay, has on average a 70 per cent to 80 per cent occupancy level on any one day. "It plays up and down. We lost some bookings with the distur-bance,but we have met the challenge and are doing what has to be done," Kerr told Sunday Business.
While Kerr declined to say how much money he intended to spend on marketing and advertising campaigns, he said that they had already signed a contract with CINTV to start advertising in the United States.
As for the cancelled bookings Kerr said that they were one of the first hotels to have announced that patrons could rebook without a penalty. A returning-guest programme has also been put in place. Further, Kerr noted that numbers for forward bookings for the months of July and August had so far outpaced last year's, a sign that things were picking up somewhat.
Published: Sunday | June 13, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
The lobby at the Sunset Beach Resort and Spa in Montego Bay.
The Hendrickson family-run Sunset Beach Resort and Spa has joined the fight to re-energise the tourism industry to make up for ground lost as a result of the civil unrest in west Kingston recently.
"It is just a matter of com-munication, spreading the message to let people know that Jamaica is doing well and there is no real reason for concern," said Ian Kerr, managing director of Sunset Resports.
"All hotel people are doing what they have to do," he further said.
Kerr admitted that several of the hotel bookings, mainly conferences and group functions, amounting to just under US$1 million, were cancelled as a result of the disturbances, but said that the hotel was now working intensely with travel partners to regain the momentum.
"We can only go out and re-energise the market and get the interest going back in Jamaica again," said Kerr.
"All hotels have to do it," he added. Sunset Beach Resort and Spa
, a 430-room facility located on the tip of the Montego Free Port peninsula in Montego Bay, has on average a 70 per cent to 80 per cent occupancy level on any one day. "It plays up and down. We lost some bookings with the distur-bance,but we have met the challenge and are doing what has to be done," Kerr told Sunday Business.
While Kerr declined to say how much money he intended to spend on marketing and advertising campaigns, he said that they had already signed a contract with CINTV to start advertising in the United States.
As for the cancelled bookings Kerr said that they were one of the first hotels to have announced that patrons could rebook without a penalty. A returning-guest programme has also been put in place. Further, Kerr noted that numbers for forward bookings for the months of July and August had so far outpaced last year's, a sign that things were picking up somewhat.
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