TRENDING
Fighting
BACK
CARIBBEAN HOTELS MARSHAL MARKETING RESOURCES TO LURE SKEPTICAL VISITORS .
Contributed BY JUDITH CROWN
The view from Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan , Puerto Rico : After last year ’ s hurricanes , the island is increasing room inventory by 25 %.
Another hurricane season may be winding down , but Caribbean hotels still are recovering from the epic storms of 2017 .
Hundreds of hotels across the islands reopened throughout the year , with renovations ongoing . On some of the hardest-stricken areas such as St . Maarten and the Virgin Islands , only half the properties are accepting bookings , tourism officials say . But resorts continue to schedule openings for late this year or early next . Their goal : to convince tourists and meeting planners that the islands are open for business .
“ People didn ’ t believe we were functioning ,” says Nils Stolzlechner , general manager of the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar
Puerto Rico Golf & Beach Resort , 25 miles east of San Juan . “ Our challenge was to prove it .” The resort installed a webcam to convince prospective guests that the resort was ready to go on March 1 .
GMs and marketing directors are employing a mix of paid advertising , social media and public relations to keep frequent guests , timeshare owners , tour operators and media planners abreast of progress and to tout their shiny new beach bars , cafes and spas . Although many are offering promotional rates , some GMs note that the low inventory of rooms has enabled them to maintain RevPAR levels . Stolzlechner says one group earlier this year planned to cancel its eight-day , 300-person convention in February at the Rio Mar . The hotel flew two of the organizers from Kentucky . “ They were impressed and helped us get others to attend the conference .”
SOFT OPENINGS , SOCIAL MEDIA Convincing skeptical travelers is a challenge for the U . S . Virgin Islands , where about half of the territory ’ s 5,000 rooms had reopened as of August , according to Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty . The remaining properties are expected to reopen throughout 2019 , she says . The biggest challenges : working through insurance settlements and subsequent reconstruction , including accessing materials and labor .
12 hotelsmag . com October 2018