Norman Mastalir: Hotels Will Not Survive
Managing director of Fairmont Hotels Bermuda Norman Mastalir spoke at the UBP town hall on gaming tonight [Apr 29] saying that the hotel industry in Bermuda has been losing money for a decade, and will not survive unless changes are made.
Mr. Mastalir said the hotel industry is at a crossroads, and that the industry lost tens of millions of dollars in 2009 alone. He called the losses the hoteliers have faced over the last decade “staggering”.
He also said that over the last few years many announcements of new hotels have been made, but pointed out none have been built. He said the developers visit Bermuda, and are impressed by the island’s beauty and close proximity to the United States, but then run the numbers and see the numbers don’t work. Mr. Mastalir went on to predict that there will be no new hotels built until things change.
Making a pro-gaming presentation, Mr Mastalir called it “saving an industry in Bermuda”, and explained some members of the Bermuda Hotel Association co-funded the green paper on gaming and that the Hotel Association is unanimous that gaming is something that should be considered. The CEO of the Bermuda Hotel Association John Harvey has already come out in support of allowing gaming, saying that Bermudian hotels have faced a decade of challenges and another amenity would be welcome.
He said that Bermuda has been an extraordinarily prosperous country, but as international business begins to level off and the construction boom continues to decline, tourism becomes more vital part of our economy.
Moving onto logistics, Mr. Mastalir said that gaming is not weather dependent, and could assist in increasing tourism during the offseason. He pointed out that local employees often suffer through layoffs and reduced working hours in the offseason.
Quoting a study, Mr. Mastalir said gaming could result in up to 100,000 incremental visitors, and additional revenue of $30 – $50 million annually. He called these statistics “significant and compelling”.
He also quoted a much bandied about statistic that 60% of Americans say gaming is important when selecting a vacation spot.
Explaining that local hoteliers don’t want to be “behind the rest of the world”, Mr. Mastalir said that through history Bermudian hotels had been slow in adopting new practices such as televisions in rooms and accepting credit cards.
He stated that operating expenses in Bermuda are very high, and there is really nothing that can be done about that and that gaming could be part of the solution, not the panacea to fix the situation, but help to correct it.
The veteran hotelier ended his presentation by saying “let’s save the jobs”.
Other speakers at the well attended Town Hall included Neil Inchcup Jnr and Pastor Harold Lambe. Look for another article tomorrow about the event…
“Mr. Mastalir went on to predict that there will be no new hotels built until things change.” <<< Interesting, because I SWEAR the Premier said new hotels are coming soon…………
But Ewart Brown keeps saying we are in the Platinum period?
Pure adulterated “we had to deceive you” BS
Kool-Aid to con the sheep.
why should the casino be privately owned and not owned (and managed) by the people of Bermuda /the Bermuda Government?
What is the benefit of having a private company own it,unless certain connected politicians get a piece of the action ,a cash cow for a few,making their friends & family multi-millions for life ?
Come on guys it is time. Bermuda must compete with the rest of the world. Most importantly, don’t let the gambling bill be defeated by the church. All they are concerned about is their collection plate. If anything, the church should be benned.