Sandals grows business

Hopkin is the owner of the Spice Island Beach Resort which won the 2014 Six Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Science (AAHS).

In an impassioned speech, Hopkin minced few words as he advised Tobago hoteliers, its people and the government of Trinidad and Tobago to embrace the opportunity which was being presented by Sandals to open a Tobago resort.

“The Sandals story is easy to be told,” Hopkin began, adding, “contrary to what a lot of people think and say, because they don’t know what they are saying and they don’t understand the business, they say Sandals is coming to take your business but what Sandals does is that it grows its business.” “When Sandals opened [in Grenada], the first year, I only have 64 rooms, my business grew by a TT$20 million increase, why, because you have a Sandals brand in your country, you have a Sandals show,” he said.

And with the Grenada Tourism Minister, Dr Clarice Modeste-Curwen, also part of the audience, Hopkin pointed that Sandals marketing thrust of just a few advertisements was more than the annual Tourism Ministry budget.

“What they spend in three or four ads is what Madam minister has in her tourism budget to spend for the year, so what happens, someone reads a Sandals ad, Sandals is in Grenada, quite frankly not everybody that sees a Sandals ad is a Sandals client but they see an ad for Grenada, for Tobago, and I know you are having the same kind of discussions down there,” Hopkins said. He pointed out that a common misconception was the resort chain was “coming to get everything, they go get tax break but what the governments have to do is they have to understand is that tourism is an industry and a main export.” “You’ve got to be prepared to take half of the loaf than get the whole loaf and get nothing out of the loaf, the loaf will grow moss on the fridge and you will have to throw it and that is what has been happening,” he said.

He cited Barbados which had between 8,000 and 9,000 hotels rooms just one decade ago and had now fallen to 3,500 rooms but had since rebounded to 4,000 rooms due to the addition of a Sandals resort.

“In a lot of the islands, hotels are going under, as they have done in Grenada, this, [LaSource hotel] was a hotel that went under before Sandals came, LaSource went bankrupt, all their employees went home, Sandals comes in and they have over 700 (or) 800 people working here,” he said.

He continued: “So if they got some concessions to bring in things who wins, Grenada has 28 percent unemployment so they are employing, they open a call centre.” “They say Sandals imports everything, they only import everything because we can’t produce it but Tobago and Trinidad is ideal for it because you not like Antigua, or Barbados which is a coral island, you can grow everything,” he said.

“So we have to get our act together and not be scared of competition, the government of Tobago if you want to tell investment, check on your big hotels in Tobago, when last have they been renovated, other than the few boutiques, you know why, they cannot afford, and as a result, the product is going down, and some of the people who might be fighting you now are those products that have gone down, and they don’t know how to get it up,” he added.

“When I saw Sandals coming in, you know what I did, I didn’t do like some of allyuh fellas in Tobago bawling Sandals coming in, I went to the government and I invested about $5m US to upgrade my hotel, and that has borne the fruits where in that same year, I went up by US$3 million which is about TT$21 million and I now have 64 rooms with 210 employees,” he noted.

“So it is tourism which is going to drive you in Tobago unless you find the oil and the gas in Tobago, don’t fear Sandals, Sandals is going to be an asset,’ he said.

He recalled that he had been invited to speak at the official opening of the Sandals LaSource and had accepted “because I know is Sandals comes in Grenada, it’s a win/win for all of us.” Hopkin also addressed the issue of cruise ship arrivals being a bigger boost to Caribbean countries saying while cruise ship did provide a boost in foreign exchange, this could not be compared to an on island tourist staying at a resort or hotel. “We need the cruise ships but bear in mind that today you can buy a cruise for US$599 per person for a week because they are travelling and they have all the incentives,” he said.

Regarding the issue of concessions to Sandals, he said Tobagonian hoteliers had to also approach government for its own concessions.

“I know in Tobago, like a lot of the naysayers in Grenada, Sandals coming and you giving them concessions which we do not have. We have to try in our own environment to get those concessions to operate,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister, Dr Clarice Modeste-Curwen, noted that the Sandals marketing machine had done a ‘fantastic job’ in identifying Grenada as a tourist destination.

“Sandals does a fantastic job and while their primary objective is to market for Sandals, but they also do market Grenada as a destination and we are pleased with that,” she said.

She too addressed the issue of concessions saying while they could be described as ‘great’ said they could be justified by the increased employment by Sandals.

“The concessions have been great but I think the benefits are justified in this regard so do not be afraid, do not be jealous of the concession that Sandals have had, plead you own case, bask in the benefits that Sandals would bring to you and your people,’ she said.

“We need our own other hotels to grow and perform in our environment, I think it is a win/win situation, I think it’s a good marriage, I think it’s a great addition to your hotel and tourism stock,’ she added.

Also addressing the luncheon was Sandals LaSource Resort & Spa, general manager, Peter Fraser, who recalled some of the challenges which had faced the new resort in the opening days of its official opening in 2013 which included a freak storm and mud slides.

“It’s almost three years, on December 21, 2013, we opened Sandals LaSource. I don’t think we will ever forget that date because three days later, on Christmas Eve, we had a freak storm, and the mud came rolling down because the grass had not set, the Christmas tree was full of mud. It was a very trying time,” Fraser said, adding, “I left here about 4 am, I went to the nearest bar and I said ‘lord it can only get better’.

“And ladies and gentlemen, it has been almost three years now, the grass has grown, the plants are blooming, the birds are back but the success of Sandals is our team talent, our suppliers, our consistent capital investment, our global marketing and our support from government,” he said.