The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Long Island’s Stella Maris resort is already posting 80 per cent occupancy levels for the Christmas/New Year holidays, its general manager saying that apart from cut-off tree stumps “no visitor would realise a hurricane came through here”.

Joel Friese, the property’s general manager, told Tribune Business that it was already “back to normal” at the resort that can accommodate between 80-90 guests at any one time.

Long Island was arguably the Bahamian island hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy via Category 2 force winds, but Mr Friese said: “We’re doing fine; here, everything is back in shape. We’ve been open straight through the hurricane, and everything is back to normal for us.

“It was mainly roof shingle repairs and landscaping, but apart from the occasional sawn-off tree stump no visitor would realise a hurricane was through here.”

Sandy appears to also have had little impact on Stella Maris’s short-term booking levels, especially for the Christmas/New Year holidays.

“For Christmas, we’re probably already around 80 per cent occupancy now,” Mr Friese told Tribune Business. “We’re medium busy at the moment. Occupancy is under 50 per cent, but that’s normal at this time of year.

“Christmas looks promising, and bookings for the early part of next year are happening. It’s not fantastic, but looks OK. It could be better, but that is what it is.”

Mr Friese said Stella Maris was within five percentage points of its 2010 and 2011 performance, and added: “It is about the same as last year. Last year was a slight improvement over 2009.

“2008-2009 was quite bad. We’ve been coming back slowly. We’re not back to pre-recession levels by any means. Bookings are happening shorter than they used to. It’s hard to look four months in advance. People are planning their vacations three weeks out, whereas 10 years ago it was three-four months in advance minimum.”

Mr Friese said the shorter booking windows had evolved due to the advance of online reservations, and because travellers did not want to pay deposits to reserve rooms far-out.

Stella Maris, which employs 50 persons, offers 20 rooms plus a dozen two-four bedroom units. It also has a marina with 16 slips.

Reiterating how vital the creation of direct airlift was for Long Island’s tourism industry and wider economy, Mr Friese told Tribune Business: “One of the big things that affects the island is what happens with real estate.

“If real estate is sold, more homes are built and people have jobs. We can’t rely on tourism alone. That’s one of the things that is hurting, too, real estate and construction for second houses and private homes.

“It’s been rather slow on Long Island for the past four years. There was a dramatic dip since 2007. A lot of that depends on the US economy and people having extra money to spend on land and new homes. It’s the construction jobs and all the things that go with that.”