Bridgetown.
Several small hotels are under pressure from four star properties that are offering lower rates than usual.
This disclosure was made by Lynette Holder, chief executive officer of the Small Business Association as she outlined the findings of a of recent diagnostic study done on 50 propeties in the Intimate Hotels Group.
A part of the study was designed to identify the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats to the small accommodation sector and should result in key recommendations, activities and projects geared to strengthening the sector.
"The small accomodations sector, we now has realized some enhanced competition from four-star properties because since the global economic crisis began in 2008, these four star properties have engaged in a marketing strategy of reducing their rates significantly to the levels of what has been charged by our small and intimate hotel properties", said Holder.
"So they now have to compete with with those four star properties and some are experiencing some servere challenges", she added.
According to Holder, the Intimate Hotels members have contributed 32.3 percent of the visitors accommodation properties on the island and employed almost 600 people.
She said that is was very important that greater attention be given to the small hotel sector in order to protect those jobs.
