By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday voiced optimism Sandals Royal Bahamian will be “firing on all cylinders” from a multi-million dollar renovation that has pushed its post-COVID re-opening out to November 4.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that senior Sandals executives had informed him it was “full steam ahead” on upgrades that will add a further five months to the all-inclusive resort’s long-awaited return from the pandemic.

Disclosing that Sandals is forecasting “a robust bounce back” once its Cable Beach-based property re-opens in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas 2021, the minister added that the hotel chain wanted “to yield more” from its room revenue and restaurants by overhauling Royal Bahamian’s guest experience prior to visitors returning.

However, Sandals’ focus on renovations means that the property will have been closed for almost 20 months since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, and lockdowns plus other restrictions were imposed. The November 4 date, which is posted on Sandals’ website, marks the third time that the Royal Bahamian’s opening has been delayed this year alone.

The move yesterday sparked trade union and labour activists to call for Sandals to pay full redundancy and associated benefits to Royal Bahamian staff, rather than keep them on furlough as allowed by the Government’s emergency COVID-19 orders, which presently suspend this requirement until end-June 2021.

Obie Ferguson, whose Bahamas Hotel, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union has sought unsuccessfully for years to conclude an industrial agreement on behalf of Sandals Royal Bahamian staff, said the extension of the resort’s closure until November 4 would be “difficult if not impossible” for staff to survive financially having already waited over a year for the re-opening.

However, Mr D’Aguilar argued there was no better time for resorts to undertake major product upgrades and renovations than now given the slow rebound of stopover tourism amid ongoing COVID-19 related travel restrictions and vaccine roll-outs.

Acknowledging the continuing impact on hotel staff, he nevertheless added: “If there’s ever a time to upgrade your property this is the time, and the only reason I say that is because it’s clearly going to take some time for the numbers to bounce back.

“Some people estimate a year to 18 months, others 24 months, to bounce back, and if you feel you are not going to be operating in the most cost effective and optimal manner this is the best time to do your renovations.

“By the time you have finished that renovation, any lingering effects of COVID-19 will have dissipated and you are able to re-enter the market with better product when it is firing on all cylinders. It’s a pretty strategic time to do your renovations. People are at home, the hotel has extremely low occupancies. This is the time to do it.”

Mr D’Aguilar said Sandals executives had yesterday informed him they plan to do just that, adding: “They are undertaking a substantial renovation of that property. They want to create a number of river0-side suites; they have these long rivers winding through the property.

“They are also expanding their restaurants to give them a better view. It seems as if it’s full steam ahead. They seem very full on and very excited, and are expecting a robust bounce back. They wanted to be ready to yield more from their inventory and restaurant. They [Sandals] are always a good gauge of how things are going in the Caribbean.”

Mr D’Aguilar, disclosing that Sandals plans to use Bahamian contractors and tradesmen to do much of the work, although he provided no details on the number of jobs or amount of investment, said Royal Bahamian was far from alone in using the COVID-19 pandemic to launch product enhancements that will be ready for when tourists return.

Baha Mar’s owner, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), has already closed its Melia Nassau Beach Resort property for two years to undertake what it has described as $100m worth of renovations, while the Nassau Cruise Port has exploited the 13-month long absence of cruise ships and passengers to press ahead faster with Prince George Wharf’s $250m transformation.

The absence of traditional tourist volumes has caused hotel and cruise industry cash flow to dry up, with outgoings far exceeding inflows, and Mr D’Aguilar acknowledged there were likely to be questions as to why Sandals and others had not elected to launch product upgrades earlier in the pandemic.

“One would have hoped and wanted them to start renovations when COVID-19 started, but no one knew what was happening and the financial position was uncertain,” he told this newspaper. “Now the vaccine is being rolled out, we have a clearer picture of when the tourism industry will come back.

“We know the worst effects are behind us; we can see our way through this crisis, and that’s with the vaccination of as many people as possible. There’s a vast amount of pent-up demand, and people are anxious to take a break from this COVID-19 gloom, so one hopes the ramp up is quick and will not take as long as 18-24 months. One hopes it will come back quicker than that.”

Sandals, in a statement, said it will be “reimagining” more than 200 guest rooms and suites as part of the Royal Bahamian upgrade, as well as adding the so-called “river suites” and other additional features and facilities.

It added that the Cable Beach resort was being closed until November 4 to avoid any disruption to the guest experience from the construction work, with Adam Stewart, Sandals’ executive chairman, quoted as pledging the all-inclusive hotel chain’s continued commitment to The Bahamas. He had told a recent Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) meeting of the continued closure.

However, Mr Ferguson, also the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, said the improvements would likely be of little comfort to Sandals Royal Bahamian staff in the short-term. The resort was initially scheduled to return to the market in late January, but that date was extended to March 31 only to then be moved back another month to May 1, and now to November 4.

“That will have a serious impact on them,” he told Tribune Business. “The hotel being closed until November 4 will put them in a very difficult position economically. It’s not the best news one can have. It’s very difficult to ask them to have to wait now until November with no sort of real income. That’s very difficult if not impossible. Holy smoke. November 4.

“Some of the workers were waiting and being very patient, trying to cope with the protocols. I don’t know how anyone can realistically expect an employee to wait until November with no real income. The $100 a week government unemployment benefit certainly won’t do the trick. You’re talking 20 months since the hotel was last open. That’s almost two years.”

Mr Ferguson urged that Sandals Royal Bahamian pay staff due termination pay and severance, while giving them “first preference” to return and reclaim their jobs once the resort opened. “That is the best route to go so at least they have some money,” he argued.