By Devon Evans, Gleaner WriterOCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
THE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED bumper winter tourist season has begun and most of the major hotels in the St. Ann/St. Mary belt are poised to reap the benefits.
The official start of the season on December 15 was slow as usual but, since Christmas, business has picked up, with most of the hotels reporting full occupancy.
General manager of the 180-room Royale de Cameron Club Caribbean, Alvaron Duenas, said the hotel located in Salem, St. Ann will remain full through to March.
SuperClubs Breezes Runaway Bay, which had a slow Christmas, was sold out on Boxing Day and remains fully booked going into the new year.
"Overall it seems like we will be having a very good winter season," said Sales Manager Chris Tennyson.
The 225-room Hedonism III, the other SuperClubs property in Runaway Bay, is also doing extremely well. Sales Manager, Garfield Collins, said all rooms were taken on December 28 and will remain full to this weekend. He said that overall the hotel is expecting a good winter season.
The nearby FDR Resort is also enjoying improved business over last year and Managing Director Frank Rance says January is showing the strongest in terms of business over the past four years.
Mr. Rance said that both FDR and its sister hotel, FDR Pebbles, in Trelawny have been averaging 95 per cent occupancy since Christmas and that February and March look good at both properties.
The 250-room Sandals Dunn's River Resort and Spa in Mammee Bay had an occupancy level in the high 80 per cent range over Christmas, but is fully booked going into the new year.
General Manager Louis Grant is optimistic that January will be good and that overall the winter season which runs to April 15, will also be good for the hotel.
In Ocho Rios, the Grande Sport Villas and Spa which has been running full occupancy since Christmas will continue to do so up to mid-February. General Manager Joe Zellner is very excited that this year's business will better last year's.
GOOD BUSINESS EXPECTED
Sandals Ocho Rios also reported that it expects good business up to February.
And, the 750-room Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios, says it has had an excellent start for the season with a full house since Christmas Day, while the rest of the winter looks promising, says Resident Manager Peter Turpin.
Over in St. Mary, all three major hotels in the parish Beaches Boscobel, Sans Souci and Couples reported good business.In the meantime, cruise ship business in Ocho Rios continues to grow with an average of two ships in port each day.
On Wednesday, the Holland America Lines vessel Zandam and the largest cruise ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet, Marina of the Seas, were docked in the resort town.
Chairman of the Ocho Rios Cruise Ship Council, Michael Belnavis, said cruise ship visitors are again poised to break the one million target during 2004.
He said, however, that serious efforts must be made to clean up the areas surrounding the ports of call especially in Ocho Rios where a cruise ship official recently voiced concern about the poor state of the old Reynolds pier which is being used as a berth for cruise ships.
