The Tribune

MANY small and medium-sized Bahamas-based hotels, especially those in the Family Islands, can now take advantage of volume purchase discounts generating savings of up to 20 per cent, placing them on the same footing as chains and large resorts.

The potential savings, on more than 3,000 different product lines or Stock keeping units (SKUs) from some 50 vendor products, will come from a discount programme unveiled by American Hotel Register, an allied member of the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA).

The initiative, called the 'American Independent Advantage Programme', was announced at the BHA's recent membership meeting by Marcus Guara, American Hotel Register's director of sales for the Caribbean, Latin America and the cruise lines.

The programme is exclusive to independent hotels and tourism-related members of BHA. It also provides incentives for reducing freight costs.

American Hotel Register is the world's largest supplier of hotel products, including linens, towels, sheets, bath amenities, case goods, outdoor furniture, uniforms and tens of thousands of other products.

In announcing the programme, Mr Guara said: "For several years we have explored with BHA how to support some of the purchasing needs of the many small, independent hotels throughout the Bahamas.

"We believe we've come up with an incentive programme which works for all parties. In addition to the discount programme, American will contribute 1 per cent of all sales through the program to the BHA scholarship fund".

BHA president, Stuart Bowe, praised American Hotel Register, saying: "BHA continues to look at ways in which we can assist hotels with saving money and reducing their high operating costs.

"This is a direct financial benefit to our members and, at the same time, we believe it will assist them with refreshing their properties with new linens, supplies and materials.

We have several allied members who have come forward in recent years to offer discounts to our hotel members. We welcome these initiatives and the opportunity to share them with our members."

He added: "We applaud American and welcome this important initiative, which assists independent small and medium-sized hotels by giving volume pricing discounts that large hotels and chains have long benefited from.

"While working with a group of small hotels several years ago, the idea for a discount programme was seeded. Since that time we have explored numerous options, and are pleased that the American Hotel Register has worked with us to come up with a solution.

"Programmes like this support our small hotels, many of which are owned by Bahamians, and located on the Family Islands, where the cost of purchasing goods is higher. We are especially pleased that the programme will assist with our ongoing scholarship initiatives, and the $1,000 down payment made by Marcus and American demonstrates their commitment."