Atlantis lays off 70 staff

Amena Bakr

• Last Updated: February 16. 2009 7:40PM UAE / February 16. 2009 3:40PM GMT

Atlantis, the five-star resort hotel on The Palm in Dubai, has announced a reduction of 70 staff.

“Many of the reductions were based on performance during the employees’ probation period and none of the reductions have or will affect the direct guest experience,” the hotel said in a statement.

The announcement comes five months after the hotel hosted a US$20 million (Dh73.4m) opening extravaganza for more than 2,000 celebrity guests that featured one of the world’s biggest fireworks displays. When it opened in September, Atlantis had 1,600 staff from 45 countries and was looking to increase that to 3,500 employees this year.

The hotel did not specify if the staff laid off were from management or its limited-skills workforce.

The $1.5 billion resort is a 50-50 joint venture between the Bahamas-based Kerzner Internationaland Istithmar, a subsidiary of Dubai World. The resort comprises 1,539 rooms, a water park, dolphinarium, retail area, conference halls and 17 restaurants.

The Dubai-based Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts, which manages the Burj Al Arab hotel, yesterday also said it would soon reduce its staff numbers.

“Jumeirah’s management met today to set up a restructuring plan, which is a process that will take place at the group and corporate level,” a spokesman from Jumeirah Group said yesterday. “The company expects that the number of staff will be reduced, which reflects the current economic conditions.” The group, which has about 11,500 employees, declined to say how many jobs would be lost.

A recent study by STR Global, a US-based hospitality consultancy, showed Dubai’s registered occupancy levels at 68.3 per cent in luxury hotels last month, compared with 80.6 per cent in the same period last year. The same study also found that occupancies in the mid-market segment were 73.3 per cent, a fall of 10.8 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year. The economic crisis has had a severe impact on the industry in Europe, the US and the Caribbean, which have seen thousands of layoffs in the past six months.

In November, the Atlantis hotel and resort in the Bahamas laid off about 800 workers due to low occupancy rates caused by the global financial woes. The cuts represented about 10 per cent of the workforce at the country’s largest private employer. At the time, George Markantonis, the president and managing director of the hotel’s owner, Kerzner International, said the decision was “difficult and emotional”.

The budget and limited-service hotel segment appears to be in a better position as lower room rates have helped occupancy rates.

“Our prices are so much more competitive and that is why I don’t think we will hear of any layoffs in this segment of the market, because business is going quite well for us,” said Habib Khan, the chief executive of Planet Group, which owns and manages three mid-level hotels in Dubai, including the Arabian Courtyard hotel in Bur Dubai.

* with Associated Press

abakr@thenational.ae