The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

MAJOR hotel properties on Nassau/Paradise Island have expressed concern over the impact a massive snow storm affecting the northeastern US may have on their business, with one property already reporting “a dozen or more” cancellations.

George Markantonis, president and managing director of Brookfield Hospitality, the Atlantis owner, told Tribune Business: “We are always going to be a little bit concerned about a storm, particularly when it restricts air travel, and we do know that some flights out of New York have been cancelled.

“We feel badly about that, and we have got a distressed traveller rate in place to help those passengers whose flight departure did not happen. Hopefully the storm won’t be as bad a predicted, but you can’t tell. We had about 20 bookings so far that have changed their date. We give people the opportunity to rebook for a future time and most people like that. We deal with the situation really on a case by case basis.”

Patrick Drake, general manager of Sandals Royal Bahamian, told Tribune Business: “We are certainly concerned. Some passengers have to extend almost to Monday because they can’t get out.

“People can’t go out, but people also can’t get in. That’s a challenge because you have people who may have kids they may have made arrangements for, and their anxiety is quite high.

“Already, we are seeing cancellations of different flights coming in. This storm is going to be disruptive. Sometimes you could lose a booking window. It does impact the occupancies in the short term. We probably have seen a dozen or more cancellations already. We will be monitoring this very closely.”

Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s vice-president of government and external affairs, said the storm affecting New York and Boston with a projected 18 inches of snow fall would have some impact on business, although it was too early to say what impact it would have on bookings.

“So far there have only been two flights that we cancelled today. This is something we are going to have to monitor, but certainly it’s a two-three day arrangement. It will have some impact on business but it’s too early to say how it will impact bookings. It works both ways, people can’t get out and people can’t come in,” said Mr Sands.