The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Atlantis’s top executive yesterday described the outlook for May and June as “very worrisome”, with the resort’s leisure and group traveller segments giving off mixed indicators

George Markantonis, president of Brookfield Hospitality, told Tribune Business that he was “still concerned” about the final week of April, plus the following two months.

Further out, July and August 2013 were “looking very good”, and the Paradise Island resort and its One & Only Ocean Club counterpart remained “on target” with the year’s financial targets, and Mr Markantonis said Atlantis’s concert and sports tourism programmes continued to underpin performance.

The recent performance by British-Irish boy band, The Wanted, attracted more than 1,000 persons, and the Brookfield Hospitality chief said this turnout was set to be exceeded by the weekend’s Alicia Keys concert.

“We certainly have a lot of entertainment offerings and the response has been phenomenal, both locally and internationally,” Mr Markantonis told Tribune Business.

“Alicia Keys has been sold out for two months, and we have a huge waiting list of 300 people. There will be 4,000 people here on Sunday night, and over 25-30 per cent will be local.”

But, looking just a little further ahead, Mr Markantonis disclosed: “
I’m still concerned. April is showing strength so far, but the back two weeks look softer.

“We’ve managed to get the hotel sold out through this weekend, but the last week in April, and May and June, are still very worrisome.”

Noting that May was traditionally a “softer month” anyway, Mr Markantonis suggested the situation resulted partly from the fact Easter came earlier (March) this year, and that there were “a lot of bookings in the month for the month” in May 2012.

“May is always a quiet month, but this May is looking to be behind last May,” he added.

“Last year, May was a record booking month. We had a lot of bookings last May in the month for the month. We’re not really comparing apples with apples.”

Mr Markantonis said Atlantis aimed to buoy May occupancies through the ‘Pure Silk’ Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournament, while another concert special was also in the works for the same Memorial Day weekend.

“If you compare May, the leisure run rates are building at a faster rate than last May, but even though they’re building at a faster rate the segment is down,” Mr Markantonis told Tribune Business, describing this Atlantis’s “bread and butter” category.

Contributing to the mixed short-term outlook, Mr Markantonis said Atlantis’s leisure business was up 6 per cent year-over-year for June 2013.

Yet, offsetting this, Atlantis’s group bookings for the same month were “considerably down”. Mr Markantonis said such drops were often caused by timing issues, with conventions held the previous year either not happening or taking place at different times, the overall effect being to reduce occupancies.

“It’s a mixed bag,” he confirmed, revealing that Atlantis was undertaking targeted guest marketing and promotional activities, in conjunction with one of the Promotion Boards, focused on particular areas in the US and elsewhere.

“We’re presently on target with the objectives we have set ourselves [for the full year],” Mr Markantonis said. “July and August right now are looking strong. I know they’re strong because of the numbers we’re getting, but we have to see how the US economy shakes out.”