Dominique and Horace Peterkin, are teaming up on a new business the couple is launching in September, called Hospitality Services Limited. - photo by Janet Silvera

Following a 23-year run with Sandals Resorts International, Horace Peterkin is launching his own business, Hospitality Services Limited - a consultancy targeted mainly at small hotel properties, offering training, operational evaluation and restructuring, as well as advising on marketing and disaster preparedness.

Peterkin, general manager of Sandals Montego Bay for 16 years, and wife Dominique Peterkin, director of marketing at Chukka Caribbean Adventures, will team up as partners in the new business, starting September.

Leaves in three months

He leaves the Gordon 'Butch' Stewart-owned resort chain in three months, allowing time for Sandals to replace him at the 250-room property that launched the now regional Sandals chain.

"Jamaica is at one of its major crossroads, in which the opportunities, particularly in the tourism industry, are enormous," said Peterkin.

"I know that I must make my move now to claim a piece of that pie, because the opportunity will diminish every month I let go by."

Hospitality Services will also be seeking market among new investors in tourism and the broader services sector, he said.

Peterkin, a former president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, says right now conditions favour large efficient properties with excellent economies of scale or high end luxury products.

But he sees room for small players, and opportunity for his company in helping them adjust to what the market is demanding.

"The small and medium properties - old or new - will struggle to survive unless they find ways to become more efficient in their operation and savvy in marketing themselves," he said.

These properties, he said, represent a smaller proportion of the room count, but account for 60 to 70 per cent of hotel plants, and are mainly domestically owned.

Beyond the numbers

But their value, he adds, extend well beyond their numbers.

Small resorts, said the hotelier, are primarily responsible for creating the Jamaican tourism brand, and tend to be more labour intensive, representing 1.5 employee/ room compared to 0.5 to 0.7 employee/room that the big properties represent.

"Jamaica cannot afford to lose them," Peterkin said.

His resignation from Sandals, which was delivered two weeks ago, was not an easy decision, he said.

"I absolutely love Sandals, and I have the same feeling as when I was moving out of the love, security and protection of my parents home, 40 years ago," he said.

His career there spans his first shot at managing a property, the 52-room Carlyle Beach Hotel (now Sandals Inn) in 1985, Sandals Ocho Rios in 1989, and Sandals Antigua in 1991.

"My longest stint has been at Sandals Montego Bay, where I believe I have made my most solid contribution to the organisation," said Peterkin.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com