Business View Caribbean | March 2021

33 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN MARCH 2021 COUPLES SAN SOUC I the money for the hotel. But this year, we just wait and hope for the best, hope that things will get better soon. With all the protocols in place at our resort, and in Jamaica, itself, all our guests are saying that they feel safer here with us than where they’re coming from.” As a company, Couples Resorts likes to keep the local businesses alive and they continue to support area farmers by purchasing produce, etc. to supply the hotel restaurants at all four of their resort properties in Jamaica. “The owners of Couples want to see their hotels grow with the local markets,” says Battaglia. “Abe Issa, based in Florida, is leading our sales and marketing gratuities. So motivation was necessary – and we had to motivate ourselves because even though you’re management, you are in the same boat.” The Couples Resorts group has a very strong marketing team who are working very hard to promote the resort and Jamaica. According to Battaglia, “We do a lot of regular promotion on our website and the momentum seems to have picked up lately. We are getting more bookings than cancellations, so that’s a good sign. People are really looking to vacation and we predict March to be about 35 percent and April should be better. The winter is always the best season for us; it’s the time of year when we’re making