Minister Launches Tour Of Bermuda Hotels
Tourism & Business Development Minister Patrice Minors will be getting a visitor’s-eye view of the Bermuda hospitality product in the coming weeks as she embarks on a tour of island hotels to underscore Government resolve to revive the industry.
Two weeks ago, the Minister launched the “Hotel Tour” initiative, which has Minister Minors and members of the Bermuda Department of Tourism [BDOT] visiting hotel properties on a weekly basis to get a first hand feel of their daily operations.
Minister Minors has spoken repeatedly about Government’s determination to stimulate the tourism sector in recent weeks, saying she hopes to play a key role in revitalising this ”gem of an island” and is “excited” by the hospitality industry’s future.
The first property to receive a visit was the Rosedon Hotel [pictured} on Pitts Bay Road. In fact owner Kirk Kitson said the visit was quite timely pointing out to the Minister that his hotel is feeling buoyant about the upcoming tourism season.
He revealed that projections for Rosedon Hotel show bookings running an astounding 100 percent ahead of 2009 and 2010.
He explained that the projections included bookings up until May.
According to Mr. Kitson, this is largely due to the US and UK vacation packages put together by the BDOT and the Bermuda Hotel Association [BHA]. As an example, the UK package offers a $500 credit for every five days in Bermuda providing one day is on the weekend.
Mr. Kitson explained, “We have a team here of long serving highly motivated Bermudian staff and we are thrilled about the upcoming season. We have seen the worst of it now and feel good about our future. We have 30 bookings from the UK in May, with visitors staying for 7 days or 8 days and in some cases 10 days. We also have 36 bookings from US visitors using the three night package with one night on weekends.
“Rosedon has always been a bit of a barometer for the rest of the Island. If this is happening at Rosedon it must be happening at other hotels too. I believe the new incentive packages are working and Bermuda hotels are getting better advance bookings than before.”
Minister Minors added, “It’s tremendously heartening and inspiring to hear such an upbeat account from one of our local hoteliers. The Rosedon Hotel is one of those special jewels that Bermuda has to offer and I was very impressed with the quality of their product offering.”
Minister Minors continued, “Mr. Kitson and the management and staff at Rosedon have our complete support, and I am pleased that they are seeing the benefits of our promotional efforts.
“And while it’s only two months into the year, our hotel projections for the next several months are cause for optimism. Official statistics have yet to be formally released, however we can confirm that January 2011 air visitor arrivals were up 5.5 percent and February’s final result reveals a modest gain of 2.7 percent as well.
“These represent the first positive trends for winter months since 2007. In fact preliminary pacing results from the island’s ten largest hotels highlight that there is almost 30 percent more hotel advanced booking room nights for the next six months to August 2011, compared to the previous year.
“Some of our hoteliers are attributing the boost in business to increased group bookings, as well as visitor packages being promoted overseas such as the ‘Compliments of Bermuda’ and ‘Escape to Bermuda’ initiatives — and this is good news”
“I can assure all hoteliers and residents that the Ministry of Business Development and Tourism will continue to champion their cause to ensure that they reap the benefits of a thriving tourism season.”
Minister Minors is set to visit The Reefs next Thursday [Mar. 17], where she will tour the facility and see first hand all the amenities the newly the ocean side property has to offer.
Further hotel property visits will be announced shortly.
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She is playing a key role in revitalization of some of these “gems” on this island.
They will be “excited” by the Hospitality Ministry’s visits.
Bravo! Accountability is on the way!
I SUGGEST THE MINISTER PURCHASE A COPY OF THE CORNER’S FOOD SAFETY TRAINING RESOURCE. From The Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene.
http://www.croner.cch.co.uk
Please check the kitchen areas of these hotels. Check the dorms where the hotel workers live. Check the staff bathrooms. Check food storage areas. Check draws where the chefs keep their knives.Check for temperature inspection records for food on buffets, make sure the temperature is below 40 and above 140. Check to make sure that potential hazards are eliminated. Check for the implementation of a food hazard analysis system.
The training of food handlers and the safeguarding of food preparation areas is a legal requirement.
Would the Honorable Minister of Business Development and Tourism Patrice Minors, please ask, The President of the Bermuda Industrial Union Mr Chris Furbert to accompany her as she embarks on a tour of island hotels.
The employees of these hotels are the largest group the BIU represents.
The tourism industry has been going down for the last 2 decades and our government decides now to do a tour. What planet are they living on?
By the news headline you would think we were living in a country as big as Russia and it would take them months to do this tour when it should take a week.