Small hotels moving forward with co-op to cut costs

The Intimate Hotels of Barbados (IHB) has embarked on a major study that is expected to inform several decisions of small hoteliers in the future.

At the same time, officials have indicated that the IHB is pressing ahead with plans to establish a co-operative society to help hotels fund some development projects and buy some items in bulk.

Executive Director of the IHB, Davina Layne disclosed that late last month, the association received approval of grant funding from the Enterprise Growth Fund Limited (EGFL) for an economic study of the intimate hotels of Barbados.

This research, she said, will “assess the economic impact of this subsector, including the level of capital formation, the employment generation, foreign exchange contribution and other net economic value generated by this subsector”.

“A specific assessment of the level of foreign exchange leakage of the small, locally-owned hotel sector, relative to a sample of the bigger, foreign-owned properties, should also be measured. It will look at a quantification of and opportunities for the expansion of the intersectoral linkages between the small hotel sector and the agriculture, manufacturing, cultural and creative sectors; a debt restructuring plan; and it will provide recommendations on a viable cluster or cooperative programmes and recommendations on the recapitalization of this sector,” explained Layne.

Calling on the more than 45 IHB members to take part in the research, which will be led by a local economist, Layne said the results were expected to “provide much needed intelligence and allow us to plan and make informed and data-driven decisions and represent ourselves”.

Layne, who was addressing the IHB annual general meeting on Wednesday, also disclosed that some members have been able to access free technical assistance totalling over
US$20 000.

“We recently had exploratory discussions on how the group could benefit from the wide use of renewable energy. This led to initial assessments and measurements being done with about a quarter of the membership. And we will also be moving ahead with our push for solar farms and we have already held meetings to this end. We also hope to access some grant funds to help us with the development of this project,” she added.

Outlining other initiatives that the IHB has embarked on over the past year, Layne pointed to the launch of the IHB Stay Intimate mobile app in March. She said it was already gathering momentum.

“The IHB mobile app will allow the IHB to promote our services and amenities to other niche markets, and afford us the opportunity to reward our loyal community at the same time. Since the launch, the app has over 500 downloads across seven countries – Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, Ireland, Panama, the US and Canada,” she reported.

The loyalty app, which gives users the opportunity to find deals at participating member properties, has several features including a chat, map and intimate cash (coupons).

Participants at the virtual annual general meeting were also informed that the IHB was moving ahead with the establishment of a cooperative society, which was voted on during last year’s annual general meeting.

Brent Gittens, Registrar of Cooperatives and Friendly Societies in the Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, outlined ways in which the cooperative could work, as he highlighted the pros of establishing such a mechanism.

He said that in addition to being exempt from paying income tax, a co-operative society would be able to make bulk purchases on behalf of the small hotels, thereby cutting back on expenses.

Gittens also pointed out that cooperatives were “very strong lobbyists”, adding that there were different ways in which they could be capitalized.

The IHB is expected to use the Barbados Sustainable Energy Cooperative Society Ltd (CoopEnergy) as a benchmark.

Among the main features of CoopEnergy are that individuals must have ten fully-paid-up, non-withdrawable shares valued at $1 000 and pay a membership fee of $100. No member can own more than ten per cent of the co-op. (MM)