200 New Workers To Be Hired At Atlantis Resort

By December, the resort will open Seagrapes Restaurant and a second Kids Club.

Markantonis revealed that 140 people will be hired at the Seagrapes Restaurant, while 40 to 70 people will be hired at the Atlantis Kids Club. He said the available positions are open to everyone, including people who were laid off when the restaurant closed about two years ago.

Several people have already been hired, Markantonis said at a press conference at the resort yesterday. He added that the facilities will open despite the projection that 2010 will be a flat year for the resort.

He said bookings this year are about the same as last year when the 800 employees were laid off due to low occupancy levels trigged by the economic downturn.

“We’re probably a few percentage points less…Any real economic recovery is only probably going to be felt in 2011,” Markantonis predicted.

But he added that he does not anticipate any more layoffs.

“The occupancy would have to go to a 55 to 57 percent level before we would have to re-examine that. We’re not down there and we’re not going there,” he assured, noting that the resort spends huge sums of money on advertising to make sure that does not happen.

During the press conference Markantonis also revealed that service is improving.

The service level began to increase shortly after the mass termination last November, he indicated.

“Service levels have continued to break every existing record score that we have, every single month,” Markantonis said. “That includes the month of September. There’s no doubt about it. Everyone is doing more and everyone is trying as hard as they could because you have to value what you have.”

Customers rate the hotel through an international rating company, J.D. Power Information Center.

Source: The Nassau Guardian