jan-2018

54 55 COYABA BEACH RESORT years,working in the Caribbean,the U.S.,and Canada, too.Whenwe decided to start a business here,it was natural that we headed in the hospitalitydirection.As myyounger brother was intomarketing,it was a good match.All my familyhas traveled andworked overseas, but wewere born in Grenada and grewup there.” BVM: Tell us about the Resort facilities and opera- tions. Cherman: “We have 125 employees–a 50/50 split of male and female.Theyall work full time,year-round. There are never any lay-offs,since in the slowperiods there is coverage as the employees take their vacation. “We have 80 rooms in total; 40with king-size beds; 40with two double beds in each room.At full occu- pancy,we can accommodate 120-130 people.We are located on GrandAnse,the best beach on the island– two and a half miles of pristine sand.We also have five and a half acres of beautiful gardens,two restaurants, two bars,a swimming pool,lawn tennis,andwater sports.Sixtypercent of our business is all-inclusive,the rest ismixed between Bed&Breakfast and roomonly. “We have an average year-round occupancyof 75 percent.Usually,December toApril is the busiest time, whenwe do about 90 percent.But,basically,we don’t drop below60 percent occupancy.Those‘slower’peri- ods are in June,July,and September.” BVM: What are your strongest markets for visitor traffic? Cherman: “Most of our business (60 percent) comes from the U.K.; the remainder is split between the U.S., Canada,and the Caribbean.Our guests are primarily adult couples,aged 55 to 60.Weworkwith inter- national tour operators that come to Grenada and choose a certain number of hotels to feature in their programs.They take pictures and produce brochures with the selected hotels listed,thenmarket us widely throughout the U.K.and Europe.We have been listed with BritishAirways Holidays,for example,for 30 years. We also have a great relationshipwithVirginHolidays, and Kuoni and Saga luxury tours that cater to amore ‘mature’audience.” BVM: Did last year’s crippling hurricane season affect your Resort? Cherman: “Several of the islands were so badly devastated that we got some of their business but, fortunately,weweren’t affected by the storms this time around.The last hurricanewe hadwas in 2004-it put us out of business for 18months.Most of Grenada’s industrywas down for reconstruction,but since then everything is back to normal.” BVM: Howdo you differentiate yourselves from the competition? Cherman: “We always saywe don’t have anycom- petition becausewe’re verydifferent.We’re very family oriented,and have somany repeaters that it’s difficult