ANN RUPPENSTEIN
The general manager for Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Rose Hall was only nine weeks on the job when Hurricane Beryl hit Jamaica on July 3.
“I had the baptism by fire with Hurricane Beryl, which luckily or unluckily depending on how you want to talk about it, was my 16th hurricane so I’m kind of used to them,” Adrian Whitehead, who is originally from the U.K. but has worked in the Caribbean since 1996, tells Travel Courier on location in Montego Bay. “We were fully operational 72 hours after.”
Although he pointed out that a few shingles and a wedding gazebo still needed to be replaced, looking around the resort it’s virtually impossible to tell that a hurricane rolled in a mere month ago.
“It’s like a phoenix, when things go down you get bigger and better every time,” he says.
While the southern part of the island did sustain more significant damage, Angella Bennett, Regional Director Canada for the Jamaica Tourist Board, pointed out that the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay reopened within a day.
“There was a week of a lull because people were unsure but then the bookings started coming back in again,” she says. “All our tour operators are predicting a strong winter.”
Bennett credits the local Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre for keeping everyone informed during that period.
“That fed us information that the airports were closing, when the airports were reopening, what was the state of the destination so we were able to feed that to the tour operators, to the travel agents, easily,” she said. “It’s a combination of hoteliers, attractions, tourism stakeholders, public and private, and they dedicate their time to monitoring the different areas and getting reports back in so that worked very well because at every stage we knew what was happening.”
Although resort areas in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril sustained minor damages, she says the majority of properties along the tourism corridor resumed operations almost immediately.
“Once the airports were open we were able to receive guests. The main resort areas, the hotels operated on their generators and then within that week they had restored power,” she notes. “I remember somebody asked ‘Is the beach bar open? Is the beach okay? Is the pool bar working? Okay, we’re good!’ The hotels were very honest with what was functional and the people kept coming.”
So, what happens during a hurricane?
Notably, some 850 guests and 150 staff were staying at Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Rose Hall during Beryl. Guests who were staying in any of the buildings attached to the main lobby area were able to hunker down in their rooms while those who were staying in the two detached buildings were relocated to the conference centre as it was unsafe to travel between the buildings. As they braced for impact, everyone was encouraged to be indoors by 12:00 p.m. on July 3.
“We had sleeping, recreation, food and then party [zones],” he recalls. “That way we kept the noise away. As it was a daytime hurricane, we had some families in the sleeping area and that way we were able to keep the noise away. We had a food area, we had food running pretty much all the time and we ran entertainment throughout. I updated the guests every three hours as soon as we got updates, that calmed a lot of people down. Then about 9:30 we did a check on the two buildings to see if we could get there safely and we could so then we allowed guests to go back so they could sleep in their rooms overnight… We got back to the room between 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. because they were partying. Once they realized the storm was gone it was like party city.”
The next morning they assessed the property and made sure everything it was safe. Everyone returned for breakfast in the main area and by lunch time multiple restaurants had already reopened.
“The first pool was packed by 11:30 a.m.,” he says.
With a smile, Whitehead recalls how a previous team he worked with following a hurricane was so eager to help, they started cleaning up before they even had the chance to document evidence of the damages for insurance purposes.
“There’s a haste to get properties back up and running because at the end of the day it’s our bread and butter,” he notes. “At the end of the day, hospitably runs deep with everyone at the resort.”
Over at Hideaway at Royalton Blue Waters, general manager Shawn Moses says the resort bounced back swiftly.
“The very next day it was like it never happened,” he enthuses. “Our government here kept us very well informed starting from the Prime Minister. He communicated throughout all of Jamaica not just on TV, not just on radio, but on his social media page. Everyone was updated by the leader of the country.”
Meanwhile, Moses says he remained available in the lobby alongside his team to advise guests who remained at the resort to mitigate any concerns.
“We had meetings with all guests, managers had one-on-one meetings about what was going on. Of course, we gave extra pillows, we made sure that everyone was comfortable. We told them this was the safest place to be in an earthquake or a hurricane. This building cannot go anywhere. This building has stood the test of time. Every room has reinforced steel. It’s unbreakable. It’s concrete.”
To prepare for impact, the steam worked to remove any potential hazards such as lanterns and umbrellas that could potentially fly away due to strong gusts of wind.
“The next morning all we had to do was rearrange the furniture in the lobby and just remove the leaves. The one thing that happened, we lost our two gazebos — thank god — they were due for updates,” he laughs.
Meanwhile, Kaylia Harrison, director of sales for Secrets Wild Orchid, Secrets St. James and Breathless Montego Bay, says they also acted quickly so there was minimal impact and disruption to guests.
“As soon as we got the notification, we moved all the guests over from Breathless to Secrets. The most impact we had was the lack of electricity but we had our generators running. Once that was resolved everything was back to normal and we were operating quite well.”
Harrison says some quests were able to fly out while the airport was still open but many guests remained at its resorts.
“Everything is back and Jamaica is ready,” she adds. “My favourite Jamaica Tourist Board slogan is: once you go, you know. It will always remain a favourite. Once you come and experience it, it’s unmatched.”
