SLHTA Braces For Slow Season, Says Layoffs’ Not Unusual’

With September and October described as a “slow season” in the tourism industry, seven Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association member hotels, with a total room stock of 1032, will be closed at some point during this period to carry out refurbishments. SLHTA said in a press release on Thursday that the closures will impact tourism service providers, restaurants, transportation, and tours. The release noted that layoffs at this time are ‘not unusual’. On Tuesday, a story in Barbados Today painted a similar picture as more than 200 workers at Sandals Resort in Dover, Christ Church, Barbados, became redundant. According to the publication, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) had moved to allay fears about job security in tourism, describing the layoffs as part of a typical seasonal pattern. The tone of the BHTA statement was comparable to that of its Saint Lucian counterpart. SLHTA stated that redundancies reflect the annual downturn in business faced by the wider tourism industry. “That is pretty standard across the industry at this time of year,” Jason Griffith of the BHTA explained regarding the Barbados situation. Barbados Today reported that the news of the Sandals Hotel layoffs was first revealed last Friday by...