Famend Barbados hotelier Patricia Affonso-Dass was lately topped Caribbean Hotelier of the 12 months by the Caribbean Resort and Tourism Affiliation.
Affonso-Dass, the group basic supervisor of Barbados’ Ocean Motels Group, earned the dignity through the CHTA’s Caribean Journey Market convention, the area’s premier tourism advertising and marketing occasion.
So what’s the key to hospitality success? To study extra, Caribbean Journal caught up with Affonso-Dass through the convention on the Montego Bay Conference Heart in Jamaica.
What does it imply to win this award?
It’s an emotional one for me, successful the award. I’ve admired so lots of the folks that have gained it earlier than me. They’ve been mentors, icons on this business and I very a lot think about the award type of the popularity for dedication to excellence in hospitality. And I really like the Caribbean deeply. I’m an actual Caribbean individual, and so to be a part of a company that leads in that house, which is clearly CHTA, and have them acknowledge my effort, is really humbling.
How would you describe your hospitality philosophy?
How would I describe my hospitality philosophy? I feel definitely the mantra that we use at Ocean Motels is “excellence in every single place”, and that’s my hospitality philosophy. So it doesn’t matter what side of the business you’re in, what job you may have, what function you play, I feel that that dedication to excellence, ensuring that you simply present up as probably the most glorious type of your self, your company have probably the most glorious expertise you’ll be able to present them with the vacation spot is as glorious as you can also make it. I feel that’s very a lot for me the place I come within the business.
What’s your favourite reminiscence as a hotelier?
1,000,000 favourite reminiscences. My first job was being concerned with CHTA, I used to be employed as the chief assistant on the Coaching Institute again then. And so I met all these unbelievable individuals who 35 years in the past have been on the level of their profession the place they have been so excited and passionate and I believed, my God, if that could possibly be my life, who wouldn’t wish to try this?
However fairly aside from that, I simply assume lots of the reminiscences are centered round occasions like Market, the place you get to see this business progress. Once I consider what this occasion regarded like 30-odd years in the past to what it seems to be like now, it’s been unbelievable to see the expansion of Caribbean hospitality. And I feel my affiliation with the group has allowed me to see that and it’s actually fairly humbling and it’s thrilling
What’s happening with Ocean Motels? What are you as much as? Congratulations on the debut of The Rockley [the company’s just-debuted hotel].
The Rockley, that was a cool venture. It was a great deal of enjoyable to try this. Ocean Motels as you’re conscious, now we have O2 Seashore Membership and Spa, which we launched in 2021 that’s actually been doing properly. We’re type of in a very good groove now. We’ve the Sea Breeze Seashore Home, that’s our household property, and that’s been having a very distinctive time the final couple of years.
With The Rockley, we wished one thing that was so actually Bajan that you simply couldn’t ignore it. In order that’s what that product is all about. Anyplace that’s going to have a black stomach sheep of their foyer, it’s type of as genuine as you can also make it. We’re about delivering the very best visitor expertise and the very best product to guests to Barbados, and in order that’s very a lot what Ocean Motels is about, the place we’re going to proceed going and creating the very best workforce.
The place do you see tourism within the Caribbean proper now? What offers you hope for the following few years?
I feel what offers me hope is I take a look at a number of younger individuals coming into the business in the present day. Our CHTA Younger Leaders program is basically targeted on creating that subsequent tier of management coming into the business. And I’m excited by what I see.
We’ve some actually nice younger individuals on the market in each aspect of the group. I’m actually excited by the extent of creativity when it comes to the lodging house, a number of actually cool, progressive product that’s approaching stream.
I’m inspired by type of this transfer in direction of a extra genuine type of Caribbean service the place it’s not the type of conventional “sure or no ma’am kind service, but it surely’s simply real, heat, partaking. So I feel we’re positively headed in the best path and I’m loving the type of integration and cooperation and that type of unity amongst the locations.
We’re taking a look at creating extra type of multi-destination tourism, and I feel that’s been one thing that I’m so captivated with. I imply, Dominica, Barbados, what a tremendous mixture, and there are one million different examples of that throughout the area.
