BARBADIAN hoteliers are keeping their heads above water while bracing for a tough year, despite the optimism of some reports.

Late bookings are now the order of the day for most, in contrast to forecasts which usually shed light on tourism’s performance for any given year.

Last week, as Barbados Tourism Authority, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association and key tourism personnel met with tour operators during the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association’s (CHTA) Marketplace 2010 at the Sheraton Resort and Convention Centre, Puerto Rico, many said it was difficult to forecast arrivals past February.

However, they said it was necessary to attend Caribbean Marketplace (which brings together the largest gathering of tour operators), in the hope of attracting new business and maintaining relations.

General manager of Accra Beach Resort, Jon Martineau, lamented that even at Marketplace, business was slow.

“We’re consolidating existing partnerships and looking for new ones, but there is not a lot of new business. Many tour operators are shopping around for bargains. This is a sign of the times and is reflective of what is going on in the world.

“We need to be visible, and rather than lower room rates, we will put strategies in place to offer more value,” he added.

He said Accra recorded a 70 per cent occupancy last week, 20 per cent down from the previous years.

“It’s down but still decent. We’ve discovered for the past five years that people book late and do so online in search of deals.”

Britta Pollard of Southern Palms Hotel was also seeking business from European and North American tour operators.

“Business is down. The trend is late bookings, and people are looking to see if yields will appear.

“February is usually our best month but is also late on bookings. March is also just not happening yet, but repeat business remains strong.”

Last week, occupancy at Southern Palms was 60 per cent, a decrease when compared to last year’s level.

Barbados Beach Club described last week’s 60 per cent occupancy as reasonable.

Tammy Ann-Worrell of the sales and marketing department also met with tour operators with the hope of increasing business. She said bad weather in the United States and Britain was resulting in “no-shows”.

She added that while tour operators expressed interest in the all-inclusive concept, airlift was proving a problem.

Owner of Golden Sands Hotel, Denis Tull, was upbeat.

“We are very optimistic. We had more meetings with tour operators this year than we did last year, and business is picking up for February. Both February and March are good months for Golden Sands.”

Gayle Headley-Lowe of Intimate Hotels also stressed that travellers who could not afford high-end hotel rates were choosing the Intimate brand, of which Golden Sands was a member.

Peter Odle, owner of Mango Bay Resorts, stressed that his company was putting new initiatives in place to attract additional business.

He noted that the way of doing business in the sector “has changed”, especially the distribution method.

“We have to be on the cutting edge of technology. Even though many of us are dependent on tour operators, the Internet is more effective. One must be abreast of technology, and we have done this successfully.”

Odle said bookings were presently good, but he, too, expressed concern about March and April. He stressed, though, that he could not discount his rates due to high operational costs.

Bougainvillea Beach Resort’s general manager Sharon Hugh-White also said she could not forecast business for the next four months.

“It is hard to plan, even with tour operators. We’re in the ’90s now, but could witness a 15 per cent decrease in February unless we have lots of late bookings. However, I am . . . confident that things will get better.”

Hugh-White said weather woes in Britain allowed them to increase room nights, while marketing manager Dawn Kirton said the resort closed at 75 per cent occupancy last year, the lowest ever in six years.

Marketing manager of The Crane Resort, Anne Marie Thompson, said they finished 2009 “ahead of expectation”, with a ten per cent increase over 2008.

“Ours was a solid performance. We have recorded over 80 per cent so far for January, but due to late bookings we cannot forecast February. Time share benefits us, and we are continuing our Staycation promotion,” she said.