N°4 - June 18th, 2008

In this edition
Romantic Rhythms Music Festival
 
Delta inaugurates direct flights from JFK 
 
Virgin Special Rates for WTM
 
May Hotel Occupancy figures
 
Profile - Search Antigua
  
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New Members June 2008
 
Associate
-Swalings Antigua Ltd.
 
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On the Move
 
Arlene Marsh, after many years at Hawsbill has moved to Halcyon Cove by Rex Resorts as  Manager. Arlene will now be handling all the day to day operations on the property reporting to Richard Michelin, General Manager Rex Resorts Antigua.
 
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 Hotel closures Summer 2008
Grand Royal - 12th May - 11th August
Sunsail Colonna - May - October 17th
Jumby Bay - June 6th - 2009
Carlisle Bay - August 30th - October 10th
Curtain Bluff - August 23rd - November 1st
Admiral's Inn
Galleon Beach - May 31st -
Long Bay - May 6th - November 1st
Hermitage Bay - September 1st - October 6th
The Inn - May 1st - November 1st
AYCM Resort - September 1st - November 1st.
 
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Average Hotel occupancies 2008
 
January - 74.1%
February - 81.1%
March - 72.7%
April - 72.4%
May - 63.7%
 
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 Upcoming Events
 
This month's breakfast meeting with Minister Lovell and hoteliers will be held on Thursday 19th June at Hawksbill in their Great House at 8.30am.
 
First Annual Caribbean Tourism Summit (ACTS)
June 21st-24th
Washington, DC
 
Magic Mango Menu Cook-Off
- 6th July
 
Christian Valley Magic Mango Fest -
16th & 17th August
 
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 Books for Books
 
 
Guests regularly leave their read paperback books in their hotel rooms. Every Housekeeping office has piles of these books laying around. We are asking for your help by donating these books to the AHTA.
 
In every school the library plays a key role in the students education. This is no different at the Antigua & Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute but the library is sorely lacking in up-to-date literature on our industry.
 
We will be holding a book sale at Woods Mall on Saturday July 5th to raise money towards new books for our future young hotel workers.
 
Please help us to help them, drop of any books you can at the AHTA office on Newgate Street. 
 
 

Welcome to the fourth Newsletter of the Antigua Hotels & Tourist Association.

 

 
The AHTA was a sponsor of this weekend's Romantic Rhythms Music Festival. Visitors turned out in their thousands to watch three spectacular shows. The crowds were treated to superb performances by Lionel Ritchie, Kenny Rogers and others before Shaggy brought the house down on Sunday night.
 
The AHTA was present on all three nights with a hospitality tent in General Admissions where members and guests were able to take a break and chill out and enjoy the shows.
 
On Friday night Brian McKnight was hosted by the AHTA as he autographed tee-shirts for his fans.
 

    

     Shermaine Jeremey & Brian McKnight in the AHTA Tent.  
The Festival generated much interest overseas and was covered by many international media personnel. One such group of six journalists was accompanied by Canadian Department of Tourism Representative, Erica Henry-Jackman.The journalists with Erica were:  Yun Cao  - NTDTV Canada, Mu-Deh (Corban) NTDTV Canada, Guangsheng Du (Sam) The Epoch Times, Jai Ojah Maharaj – CHIN Radio – Caribbean Connection, Michael Lloyd Van Cooten – Pride News Magazine. The Grand Pineapple Beach Resort hosted this group for the event.  

 Delta inaugurates direct flights from JFK

On Thursday 12th June at 1pm a Boeing 737-800 of Delta Airlines touched down at V.C Bird International Airport after a 3 1/2 hour flight from New York. On board were the Prime Minister Winston Baldwin Spencer, Tourism Officials and 160 passengers. This marked the first of a twice weekly service, Thursdays and Sundays, linking the island to the Big Apple. 
 
 
On hand to meet the aircraft and arriving passengers were Minister of Tourism, Hon Harold Lovell, AHTA Chairman, Ted Isaac, AHTA General Manager, Neil Forrester and other local officials.
 
 
At a short ceremony in the VIP lounge, the Prime Minister welcomed the Delta flight crew. Ted Isaac also welcomed the crew on behalf of the AHTA.
 
Delta Airlines commenced services to Antigua two years ago with direct flights from Atlanta. The Atlanta connection continues with twice weekly flights.
Virgin Special Rates for World Travel Market
   
WTM may seem a long way off but it is time to start planning. Virgin Atlantic is once again offering special fares for WTM in London. All requests must be made to the Sales Office in Barbados on company headed notepaper.
Fares are valid for travel commencing 2nd November and completed by 30th November..
 
Tickets must be purchased on or before October 17th.
 
Upper Class - US$1000 & US$2000 (two fare levels to facilitate additional availablility)
Premium Economy - US$700.00 
Economy - US$500.00 
 
These fare do not include taxes. 

May Occupancy Figures

 
The average occupancy of the reporting AHTA hotels was 63.7% in May 2008 compared with an average of 67.8% for 2007. Once more with the addition of the new rooms at Sandals and the new Verandah Resort, the reporting sample size was much larger than last year. The month of May saw the closure of several hotels including Sunsail Club Colonna, The Inn and Long Bay.
 
                                      May 2008              May 2007                  
                        %        Hotel       Room      %        Hotel       Room
                                  Sample    Sample             Sample    Sample
Overall              63.7%    24         77924       67.8%   22        65844
Occupancy
Large                65.8%    5           43431      65.6%    6         41199
>150 Rooms
Mid Size           60.3%    11          27001      73.9%    9         18972
50-150
Small                63.3%    8           7492        63.3%    7         5673
>50 Rooms
Luxury              67.6%     6          13330       74.1%    7         12927
Mid Range        63.0%     16         62734      66.3%    14        52483
Budget             56.7%      2          1860        53.0%    1          434
 
 
New Member Profile:
Search Antigua inc 

Ken Shipley is the Managing Director of Search Antigua, Inc. A young tech company based in downtown St. John's.
The company was founded in January, 2008 on the belief that we could make all of the websites about Antigua and Barbuda accessible to everyone from one place...hence the creation of our Search Engine. Ten years ago the company made a name by designing websites...today our goal is to make these and other websites accessible through our Search engine.

           
 
 
 
 
Our website www.antiguahoteljobs.com  is at your service to help you fill those vacant positions. At no cost we will post any vacant positions to the website.
 
Just send in the details to the AHTA Office
 
 

 

Antigua Hotels & Tourist Association
PO Box 454, Island House, Newgate Street
St John's
Antigua
 E-mail: neil@antiguahotels.org
http://www.antiguahotels.org