GOSTELOW REPORT—“Having been brought up around the world is really helpful when working in the Caribbean,” says Mark Sterner, general manager of St. Lucia’s Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort. “I know not to be a headmaster but a friend who wants to help.”
Born in Hanover, Germany, he spent his formative years traveling: “We seemed to move every two years. My father worked for the tourism division of Germany’s GTZ philanthropy. He set up and headed hotel schools in Serekunda, The Gambia; Djerba, Tunisia; Luxor, Egypt; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Kabul, Afghanistan,” he explained.
His hotel career, which has included The Carlyle in New York as well as Gleneagles in Scotland, first brought him to the Caribbean 20 years ago. “I have worked on Barbados, Barbuda and Virgin Gorda. When I arrive on an island I try to immerse myself in the locale as soon as possible. I always live really close to the property. I get to know the team, organize beach parties for them. We paint local schools. Each island has unique personnel challenges but, area-wide, there are plenty of shared characteristics. There is a labor force that has no idea of the lifestyle of guests. One of the challenges for new hires is understanding guest expectations – they do not always have the same attention to time and punctuality, for instance.”
Sugar Beach has 96 bedrooms plus villas that are put into the letting pool. Seventy-four percent of business is from the US and Canada, and average stay is six nights. 2018 will close at 78% average occupancy, 4% up on 2017. St. Lucia, which has an annual GDP of US$9,714 per person, has overall unemployment of nearly 21%, with a staggering 50.5% for females aged 15-24 years (the hotel’s staff turnover year-to-date is 4.8%). Sterner is closely involved both in hiring and training. He takes in school-leavers for six months’ paid work experience, which leads to some permanent retention.
“I sometimes wonder why, with the exception of area-specialist Sandals, brands do not stay around the Caribbean. Is it labor issues, or is it owners?” asked Sterner, whose hotel was at one time the Jalousie Hilton. He believes part of the challenge is relationships with owners, who in the Caribbean tend to be individuals rather than private equity (Sugar Bay is owned by Roger Myers, the British accountant to The Beatles who went on to own, and sell, the Café Rouge café chain).
“But having a brand brings a lot to the table. Whereas independent St. Lucia competitors have to spend substantially on marketing, we are helped by Viceroy’s corporate office in Los Angeles. This year it organized, company-wide, a five-day Black Friday sale, with discounts of at least 35%. As a result, this hotel alone picked up an additional 800 room nights. Also, Viceroy’s membership of the Global Hotel Alliance, GHA, is very good for us,” he shared. The more first-timers he can bring to the island, the more he can help its economy (he is continuously aware that every visitor is directly financing the community).
Just as he was brought up to do, Sterner is not so much working as helping others. Right now, only 60% of his team, which expands to 600 at peak seasons, opt to pay US$15 a month for voluntary health care, sponsored by the hotel – sadly, too many need the money to pay back payday loans to buy a car. “In 2019 we are adding courses on health and financial management to our training programs; it is so worthwhile to achieve a breakthrough and see someone working ahead to a future. With our brand, we can help those who are ambitious to relocate to another of our properties.”
Sterner sadly has seen too many GMs in locations which may, sometimes, temporarily run out of electricity or water become bogged down by negatives. “My management style is go for the positives, the whole time, and the feeling spreads,” he enthused.