THE ADVISORY BOARD 60 seconds with...
Patricia Affonso-Dass group general manager, Ocean Hotels Barbados
Q. How important is the UK market to the group? It varies depending on the hotel. For Sea Breeze Beach House, it represents more than 75% of business. For O2 Beach Club & Spa, it’s about 50:50 with the US market. This year, Barbados will probably have visitor arrivals split almost equally between the
US and the UK. There’s a lot more lift out of the US market, so that’s changing that demographic. The Rockley has always been quite mixed across the US, UK, Canada and the Caribbean.
Q. You recently refurbished and rebranded The Rockley, formerly known as South Beach Hotel. Why? The Rockley was what I call vanilla – it didn’t have its own identity – so we made the decision to refurbish. It’s always a chance when you take something doing well and change it. But I believe in this business, especially in small destinations such as Barbados, you owe it to your teams and the destination to constantly look at how you can grow. That’s how small jurisdictions can continue to make themselves relevant.
Q. How is O2 Beach Club performing? It’s finding its way. Selling luxury in Barbados, other than on the west coast, is a difficult proposition. Barbados has told that story in the same way for such a long time that selling something other than that is scary for the trade because these clients are worth a tremendous amount of money. But we’re starting to see it happen now. UK operators that were a little tentative to begin with now sit in our top 10 and we’re starting to see repeat clientele, so we’re headed in the right direction. Elegant Resorts is a good example of a company that sold Barbados traditionally but has seen an opportunity to speak to a different aspect of their clientele and I commend them for that.
Nicola McNeish Celebrity Cruises
celebritycruises.co.uk
John Sullivan The Advantage Travel Partnership
advantagemembers.com
Steering the Aspire Travel Club Our panel of travel professionals covers the
spectrum of the luxury market and plays a major role in helping Aspire Travel Club evolve
Amanda Matthews Designer Travel
designertravel.co.uk
Kate Fenton 100% PURE New Zealand
newzealand.com/luxury
Andy Harmer Clia UK & Ireland
trade.cruising.org
Lynn Narraway Seabourn
seabourn.com
Louise Craddock Oceania Cruises
oceaniacruises.com
Rick Milne Carrier
carrier.co.uk
Craig Jeffs Kerzner International
kerzner.com
Jeanne Lally Travel Bureau
travelb.co.uk
Priti Mehta Explora Journeys
explorajourneys.com
Gordon McCreadie Elegant Resorts and If Only
elegantresorts.co.uk ifonly.net
Jamie Loizou AmaWaterways
amawaterways.co.uk
Pete Brudenell CV Villas
cvvillas.com
22 ASPIRE JUNE 2025
aspiretravelclub.co.uk
CREDITS: Steve Dunlop; Passionate; Matthew Burch
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