The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

and YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporters

A Cabinet minister yesterday said Atlantis’ plan to place 200 Royal Towers staff back on furlough will produce “no change in employment” at the Paradise Island mega resort.

Dion Foulkes, minister for labour and transportation, speaking to reporters outside the Cabinet Office, said the move will effectively be offset by the resort recalling the same number of staff at its Cove property, which had been due to re-open on February 11.

“The employment level at Atlantis remains the same. There’s no change in terms of the employment level. Atlantis has informed me that, at the Royal Towers, they have furloughed approximately 200 employees, but they have re-engaged approximately 200 employees at The Cove,” he explained.

Mr Foulkes’ comments caused an astonished Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union’s president, to respond: “Muddo”. He argued that the government was focusing on “percentages and levels” when all Atlantis was doing was rotating one group of workers for another, and not actually increasing employment.

“All that is doing is putting one set out and bringing another in,” he added. “No wonder we’re in the state we’re in thinking like that. All they’re [Atlantis] doing is giving another set of people a taste of the unemployment line by sending them home.”

However, Mr Foulkes reiterated: “In terms of the employment level at Atlantis, there is no change. I am also advised by Atlantis that the Spring Break, which is dependent on the university, begins around the end of February and goes from anywhere from three to four weeks.

“They are optimistic that they’re going to be able to reopen the Royal Towers and re-engage those 200 employees by the end of February.”

Audrey Oswell, Atlantis’s president and managing director, in a note to staff said shifting guest reservations from the Royal Towers to the Cove with effect from February 4 was “critical to preserving our business” as surging COVID-19 infections and associated travel restrictions - most notably the proposed US quarantine for returning international travellers - continue to ravage The Bahamas’ main visitor source markets.

Indicating that those impacted by the latest furloughs will likely remain home until end-February at least, Ms Oswell said Atlantis hoped to start recalling staff “by the Spring Break season”, which begins at the end of next month with the peak in early to mid-March.

She warned, though, that these plans depended on the resort’s occupancy and booking levels, which are said to already be taking a hit from the uncertainty surrounding the “quarantine” plan announced last week by newly-elected US president, Joe Biden, for all returning US citizens.

Ms Oswell wrote: “As the New Year progresses, the overall business outlook for Atlantis is hopeful,” she wrote. “However, for the immediate future we face similar challenges as we have in the last few months.

“The pandemic continues to spike in many of our key markets, new and increased travel restrictions and requirements are in effect, and limited airlift presents roadblocks for travel. As we continue to navigate operating in an ever-changing COVID-19 environment, we will make decisions at times that are very difficult yet critical to preserving our business.

“For this reason, starting on February 4, we are scaling operations, and guest reservations at the Royal will move to The Cove and some colleagues will be placed on temporary furlough. Our plan and hope are to invite team members back by the Spring Break season, pending occupancy.”

Meanwhile, Baha Mar executives did not yesterday provide figures for how many staff will be recalled when their Rosewood and SLS resort properties re-open on March 4. Mr Woods said of the date: “We want to know who they’re catering to that is different from what everyone else is getting. I don’t know where they’re getting bookings from but it’s good as it may fill other markets.”

He added, though, that he had yet to obtain a confirmed date from Baha Mar as to when the Melia Nassau Beach Resort - where his members work - will return to business.

Meanwhile, Mr Foulkes said: “We got notifications from Sandals that their hotel in Exuma will be opening at the end of February, and that the hotel here in Nassau will be opening at the end of March. That is very good news for almost 1,000 employees of Sandals.”

Sandals Resorts International posted on its website that the Emerald Bay property will reopen on February 24, and the Royal Bahamian resort on March 31.