The Cayuga Collection

8 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 THE CAYUGA COLLECT ION to invest in them. From day one we started training and development, kept everybody busy maintaining the hotel so it looked new. Some employees who were struggling financially actually lived at the hotel – we invited them to do that during the time, so they didn’t have to pay rent. We really believe in people, they are our most valuable asset. In 2018, we won the “Tourism for Tomorrow” Award in the People category from the WTTC (World Tourism Travel Council). So when it comes to sustainability, that’s not necessarily just the LEED certified buildings but it’s the people, we really believe that’s the most important thing.” From a marketing perspective, The Cayuga Collection receives a good amount of business from third party agency representation in the U.S. and Europe, as well as having a valuable public relations company. But as Pfister attests, “If we have a great product and our guests are happy with the experience, that’s the best marketing, because everybody today is so connected and on their social media. So if a family is at one of our hotels having a great time and sharing that with their friends, that’s the best marketing we can have.” All the Cayuga properties have good broadband access for guests; they’ve even had people work from their hotels in the past few months – as virtual nomads. They come for an extended vacation and take a few meetings during the day. That’s one silver lining people have learned from the pandemic – that we can work from anywhere. Pfister reports that the big challenge in the background, that might even be bigger than COVID, is climate change. He shares, “Extreme weather is everywhere but I think also, it’s justifying how we’re doing the type of tourism where people fly on jets that are pumping carbon into the air to come to our hotels. The