With the Albany resort at the “absolute highest end of the market” service expectations are incredibly high and demanding, according to Albany Managing Partner Christopher Anand, who admitted this week that investors have questioned whether the resort could meet the demands of offering world-class service.
The managing partner said despite investors’ concerns Albany’s workers are meeting expectations.
This issue was highlighted during a groundbreaking ceremony held at Albany recently, which marked a new phase in the development of that project.
“Many people said as we were talking about Albany, ‘you’ll never be able to accomplish the service levels that you need to with Bahamian labour’,” he said. “There are a lot of experts out there who told me what we couldn’t do. This was another one.”
There are 275 full-time workers currently employed at Albany, 97 per cent of whom are Bahamian.
The resort also plans to contract an additional 900 construction workers in the near future.
Despite criticisms from international experts and other interested parties, Mr. Anand said Albany staff has dispelled those concerns by offering exceptional service.
“Let me tell you one thing,” Mr. Anand said. “Universally, every single visitor to Albany remarks on one thing: how wonderful our staff [is].”
Minister of Tourism, Obie Wilchcombe, who participated in the ground-breaking activities, said The Bahamas has to fix service generally, not only within the tourism industry. The minister said he is particularly impressed with Asian service standards in areas like China and Singapore.
“I think The Bahamas has to determine that when we say it’s better in The Bahamas, what does that mean? It means that everything we offer is better in The Bahamas, particularly service,” Minister Wilchcombe said.
The Ministry of Tourism is currently working with the University of Houston to develop service standards for the tourism industry.
The tourism chief also pointed out that he has been working with local educators to design a new training programme that would be an improvement upon BahamaHost and a requirement for all persons working in the industry.
“What distinguishes The Bahamas from the others? It must be the quality of service. You can go other places for sun, sand and sea. Some of the things you can find uniquely in The Bahamas, but what should set us apart from everybody else is service,” he said.
