Tony and Ellie Dodge enjoy their 25th vacation at SuperClubs' Breezes Runaway Bay during Christmas 2005, with entertainment coordinators (from left) Kimasha McDonald, Diana Johnson and Aldeen Dehaney. - CONTRIBUTED
ABOUT ONE quarter of the resort's guests are repeaters, and it is the norm for between 40 and 50 repeaters to be registered simultaneously at Breezes Runaway Bay, says general manager, Cheddy Parchment.
On special occasions, especially when the resort celebrates its birthday each December, the repeat house count easily moves above the 150 mark.
Most Breezes Runaway Bay repeaters are from the United States, Europe and Canada, in that order, and they are feted each Tuesday evening at a special 'repeaters reception.'
BIGGER SLICE
The resort's repeat business is so encouraging that SuperClubs is pushing for an even bigger slice of the repeaters' pie - with a marketing thrust to woo many more repeaters to vacation more often at the idyllic 22-acre property in the heart of Runaway Bay. "Repeaters have impacted the resort's bookings phenomenally," Mr. Parchment points out.
One German couple, Irwin and Helga Sommers, from Eschweiler, have vacationed at Breezes Runaway Bay over 70 times, and Canadian Major John Redman, and his wife, Jean, from Ottawa, the Canadian capital, have vacationed at Breezes Runaway Bay over 40 times.
'EMERGENCY' VACATION
Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans, Tony and Ellie Dodge, fled to their "second home," Breezes Runaway Bay, for an 'emergency' 24th vacation last August, immediately after ravaging Katrina struck - and were back at Christmas, 2005, for holiday number 25.
Says Mr. Dodge, "We both immediately took the decision to come down to Breezes Runaway Bay, after the disaster all but wiped us out and strained our nerves. We rushed down for holiday number 24 - and returned yet again, for Christmas holiday number 25."
True to form, Tony and Ellie Dodge have long made reservations for at least one vacation at the resort later this year.
