ST. LUCIA (May 14, 2020) – Bay Gardens Resorts in St. Lucia is offering resort credits on future stays to travelers who donate to a relief fund created to support its staff members during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The family-owned group of five properties, which suspended its operations in mid-March, launched the fund to augment the enterprise’s cash support, which helped keep its 350-member workforce off the breadline.
“For the past 25 years, Bay Gardens Resorts has been St. Lucia’s largest locally owned and operated hotel chain. Much, if not all, of our success, can be attributed to our employees and our guests who we consider an extension of our family,” said Bay Gardens Executive Director Sanovnik Destang as he launched the fund.
“We are grateful that all our employees and the majority of St. Lucia got spared the virus itself. However, the economic fallout from the pandemic has affected everyone. Some of you, our valued guests, also include,” he stated in a communication to friends of the hotel.
For contributions between US$100 and $250, the resort will reward donors “dollar-for-dollar” with gift vouchers that get used towards a future stay at any Bay Gardens Resorts property.
Bay Gardens’ management team helped to cushion the impact of the loss of revenues in the context of COVID-19 global travel restrictions and the local government-mandated scale-down of non-essential business activity. Hundreds of thousands of dollars got to spend to provide income support to its employees, who received a minimum of 50 percent of their base salary, up to a maximum of 75 percent.
Health insurance benefits have also continued, Destang explained, adding that emotional and mental health counseling services are also available to employees.
For May and June, the Government of St. Lucia, through the National Insurance Corporation (NIC), will provide income support to employees who have lost their income as a result of COVID-19. Bay Gardens has made arrangements to administer these payments to affected staff on behalf of NIC.
“However, even with the income support we provided or facilitated, our staff are still going to be severely impacted. Virtually all of the staff would have suffered major income losses for April through June with no guarantee of a resumption of normality after June,” Destang lamented.
The esteemed hotelier is hopeful operations will resume on June 4, 2020, but will get guided by local and international public health officials and tourism authorities.
“Our team is looking forward to welcoming you back to St. Lucia and to Bay Gardens Resorts when the time is right. For now, stay safe and stay healthy so that we can all travel tomorrow,” Destang stated in his appeal, thanking readers for their “care, concern, and generosity.”
To donate to the fund, visit gf.me/u/xzvyq7.
About Bay Gardens Resorts
Bay Gardens Resorts is a group of locally-owned and -operated award-winning hotels located near Rodney Bay Village, St. Lucia’s entertainment capital. All five of Bay Gardens Resorts’ properties – Bay Gardens Inn, Bay Gardens Hotel, Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa, Bay Gardens Marina Haven, and Bay Gardens Waters Edge Villas – are close to more than 40 restaurants, entertainment venues, duty-free shopping malls, Treasure Bay Casino and Rodney Bay Marina. All properties offer comfortable accommodations, traditional Caribbean cuisine, and warm Caribbean service and hospitality. Bay Gardens’ Splash Island Water Park, the first open water sports park in the Eastern Caribbean, is a popular attraction off St. Lucia’s Reduit Beach.
For further information, visit www.baygardensresorts.com.
