By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Atlantis has seen a “quite substantial” 4.5 per cent year-over-year increase in average daily room rates (ADRs) for the upcoming peak Christmas/New Year season, a growth rate exceeding industry norms.

George Markantonis, the Paradise Island resort’s top executive, told Tribune Business that the hotel industry never normally saw room rate increases greater than 2-3 per cent.

The Brookfield Hospitality president and managing director said Atlantis’s improved year-end ADR indicated that visitor demand for the property was increasing, with room nights and rates for January 2015 also running ahead of the prior year.

“We’re looking forward to this Christmas and New Year period,” Mr Markantonis said, adding that the resort was on target to match its normal 90 per cent-plus occupancy rates.

“We have very strong bookings,” he told Tribune Business. “Some of that is because of the Bahamas Bowl, and some of that is from our target marketing..... It should be just a very good time for us. We have a very busy time from the 20th. We’re doing well.”

Demand for an Atlantis vacation also appears to be on the increase, with the resort’s ADR rates - a vital indicator of customer interest - on an upward curve.

“I can say that our average daily rate is up from last year,” Atlantis’s top executive said. “We’re up about 4.5 per cent, which is quite substantial in rates.

“You don’t normally try and exceed rates by 2-3 percentage points. It indicates strong demand, because it allows us to yield upwards.”

Mr Markantonis said Atlantis would launch its latest TV marketing campaign in January, in a bid to further drive tourist business to the property.

“Presently, for January we’re ahead of last year in both room nights and average rates,” he added, although cautioning that Atlantis was not taking this for granted.

“Right now, year-over-year, it looks like it’s going to be improved. We’re still booking for January.”

Mr Markantonis explained that January, as Atlantis’s busiest month for reservations, in common with the remainder of the resort industry, would also be a key test of its newly-launched 10-year franchise/marketing relationship with Marriott and its Autograph Collection.

Explaining that the October 16 launch of the partnership was not intended to produce “an instant change to business”, Mr Markantonis said that seven weeks in, the Autograph tie-up was "exceeding our expectations”.

“It’s a little bit early to make forecasts, but right now it seems to be going very well,” Mr Markantonis told Tribune Business. “Right now, it is exceeding our expectations and we are very pleased with the results.”

He provided no figures, although Tribune Business understands that reservations taken through the Marriott/Autograph system may be ahead of forecast pace by a double-digit percentage.

Pointing out that the partnership was launched in October, not a key booking month, Mr Markantonis added: “We really need to see what January does, as that’s the busiest for reservations.”

Mr Markantonis told this newspaper earlier this summer that Atlantis was hoping its 10-year franchise deal with Marriott will generate an extra 50,000-100,000 room nights per year.

He added that by becoming part of Marriott’s signature Autograph Collection, the resort hoped to see “somewhere in the region” of a 10-15 per cent increase in annual room nights.

The agreement, designed to benefit both parties, gives Atlantis direct access to the 45 million customers in the Marriott Rewards loyalty programme.

The Paradise Island resort will also become part of the latter’s global sales, reservations and distribution network, and its frequent traveller programme.

Mr Markantonis, meanwhile, said yesterday that Atlantis was “as ready as we can be” for the January 1 implementation of Value-Added Tax (VAT).

“It’s gone as best as it can go,” he said of the resort’s preparations. “We’re still working closely with the Ministry of Finance. We’re doing our training in many departments, systems are being set up. We’re as far along as we can be for January implementation.”

Mr Markantonis said a series of “critical meetings” in increasing airlift to Nassau/Paradise Island, in a bid to meet Baha Mar’s 400,000 extra seats demand, had taken place in recent days involving the various resorts, Promotion Boards and the Ministry of Tourism.

Another meeting is scheduled for today, with Mr Markantonis disclosing that the addition of year-round, non-stop flights to Nassau from Houston via United Airlines was “very significant” for Atlantis.

“Houston is a major source market, and we’re going to spend some of our marketing dollars in that market,” he added.