Some good, some bad news for occupancy

Occupancy rates for last weekend at various hotels and guests showed a sharp increase, some being fully booked, while other crossed 50 percent, but some still reporting dismal news.

At Kariwak Village in Crown Point, which last week Wednesday reported a 25 percent occupancy rate for the weekend, the good news came in a 100 percent jump, all attributed to visitors coming to the island for the Tobago Jazz Experience.

Sun Spree Resort on Store Bay Local Road, reported an 85 occupancy rate at the 19-room resort, with a representative saying though that fears about inter-island transportation were still keeping visitors away.

Blue Waters Inn in Speyside reported all 42 rooms booked from Saturday evening into Sunday for the Jazz in the East Caribbean Night event at village’s recreation ground.

Jimmy’s Holiday Resort reported a 60 percent occupancy rate for the jazz festiva with a representative reporting that historically, the resort records a 100 percent occupancy rate but that concerns with air and sea transport kept many of their regular customers away.

“People still didn’t get across even though they (Caribbean Airlines) added flights and the fast ferry was operating. We had no problems last year and everything was better before April 2017. We expected 100 percent occupancy but with boat and plane problems a lot of people were sceptical about traveling to Tobago,” a spokesperson said.

At some hotels, the occupancy rate did not change. A representative at Crown Point Beach Hotel said the numbers did not change, remaining lower than 50 percent for the weekend.

The 16-room Bellissimo Boutique hotel, though expecting an increase in reservations for jazz, remained with a 40 percent occupancy rate for the two days of the jazz festival.

At Plantation Beach Villas, the news remained unchanged, one out of six villas was occupied during the jazz weekend, while at Imperial Suites in Bon Accord, only one room of the seven apartments was occupied. “A lot of persons didn’t travel because they can’t rely on the air bridge. They don’t want to take the chance to travel and can’t go back. We had guest for the Tobago Fashion Coda show. The occupancy rate was not as bad as last year,” said a spokesperson.

Meanwhile CAL, which offered guaranteed seats to persons with tickets to the jazz festival, said in a statement on Monday that it was “delighted to confirm that customers travelling on the domestic air bridge between Trinidad and Tobago for the Tobago Jazz Experience 2018 had a seamless travel experience.”

The airline reported that for the period April 26-30, it operated 201 flights with a total seat capacity of 13,840 and carried 10,602 passengers.

CAL’s Chief Executive Officer, Garvin Medera stated:

“The domestic air bridge is a significant part of Caribbean Airlines operations and we give it high priority. Customers have expressed their pleasure with our performance over the recently concluded Tobago jazz weekend. Extra flights were scheduled, and our operations and airport teams focussed heavily on careful flight management and service delivery.

“Caribbean Airlines is committed to improving the travel experience of our valued customers and are constantly reviewing how we can enhance our operations. Over the past weeks, our teams have worked diligently to ensure inter-island travellers have a positive travel experience. We commend these employees for their commitment to our customers and to Caribbean Airlines.”

Caribbean Airlines currently operates a core schedule of approximately 300 weekly flights on the air bridge.