By Devon Evans, Freelance WriterOCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
THE NEW year has begun on a very positive note for large hotels in Ocho Rios/Runaway Bay area with several reporting 100 per cent occupancy levels since Boxing Day.
The excellent turnaround in business is seen as a welcome relief for the hotel sector, following months of struggles by hoteliers to maintain above 50 per cent occupancy level.
Most of these large hotels expect to maintain their high occupancy levels throughout January with projections for February and March also pointing to high occupancies.
However, despite the good showing at this time, north coast hoteliers remain cautious in light of a possible outbreak of war between the United States and Iraq.
Managing Director of FDR Holdings, operators of FDR hotels in Runaway Bay and Falmouth, Frank Rance, said both properties have been averaging 90 per cent since Christmas. He said the last half of January will be a bit slow but that from February onwards business is expected to pick up to allow both hotels to enjoy a good winter.
Mr. Rance said everything now depends on whether there will be a war and the likely effect this will have on tourism business.
Other large hotels in the Runaway Bay area such as Breezes Golf and Beach Resort and Hedonism III have been enjoying full houses since Boxing Day.
Breezes Public Relations Manager, Angela Melville, said the hotel was expecting a good season with occupancy averaging above the high 80's.
Her counterpart at Hedonism III, Michelle Smith-Davis, said they had to be turning back many locals who have been seeking to purchase day and night passes because the place was booked solid. Smith-Davis also remarked that it was the first time in the three-year history of the hotel that they were enjoying a full house for Christmas.
No official spokesman for the 720-room Renaissance Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios could be reached but an employee in the Sales Department reported that the hotel had run out of space.
The situation was similar at Sandals Dunn's River where PR Manager Lindsay Isaacs reported that among the full house of guests was Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
At the 290-room Grande Sport Villas Golf Resort and Spa, formerly Beaches Grande Sport, General Manager Joseph Zellner reported that all his rooms were full and that the remainder of the season could see occupancy ranging from the high 80's to low 90's.
In St. Mary, the picture remains bright for the large hotels. PR Manager at Grande Lido San Souci, Naoko McIntosh, said the hotel was fully booked and high occupancy is expected throughout January.
The 207-room Couples Ocho Rios has been full since Christmas and General Manager Norman Lorde described it as an excellent start for the hotel's 25th anniversary celebrations this year. Lorde expects occupancy levels to range between high 70's to 80's throughout the remainder of January.
But while the large hotels have begun to enjoy good business, the outlook remains bleak for the small hotel sector with most of these properties empty.
Lamenting over the situation which many say is having a crippling effect on the small hotel sector, owner of the 30-room Sea Crest Resort in Priory, Leo Williams, said things have not improved for small hotels even though it was the Christmas period.
"Places like mine and several others look good and are well kept but just can't get the business," Williams said.
Other small hoteliers shared this comment with some adding that they had gone out and done everything within their limited resources to market their properties and are still being starved of business. One small hotelier in Ocho Rios who requested anonymity blamed their plight on what he said was unfair competition from the all-inclusive hotels.
"These all-inclusives are selling their rooms very cheap, cheaper than what we can offer and there is no way we will be able to survive under these circumstances," he said. Meanwhile, the month of December has brought many cruise ships to the port of Ocho Rios but in-bond merchants who cater mostly to cruise ship passengers are complaining that only a small percentage of the passengers are leaving the ships, for shopping tours, and that, despite the high influx of ships, business has not shown any major improvement.
