THE MOORINGS REAFFIRMS ITS COMMITMENT TO THE BVI

President of the world’s leading charter vacation company, The Moorings, Lex Raas on Wednesday reaffirmed his company’s commitment to the British Virgin Islands, its number one destination.

Speaking from his Florida office and against the backdrop of a threatening war between the United States and Iraq, he pointed out that while bookings are down, it is less than what typically the Caribbean market is experiencing. “We are exercising prudent management in the face of the global environment,” he told The Island Sun.

He explained that in terms of staffing, The Moorings (BVI) now has to go back to levels after September 11th, when they resorted to shorter hours as opposed to laying off staff. He said some employees resigned during that period, which also contributed to reduced staffing.

“Late 2002, we received strong bookings, but once the Iraqi crisis started, the levels dropped off,” said Mr. Raas. “So now, we’re making some very prudent adjustments.”

The Moorings President said the general situation is that they will not be releasing any staff, except for about 3% of the bareboat staff, most of whom will be resigning for various reasons, such as to return to their various home countries, to take up other job offers or for family reasons.

The Moorings BVI employs about 118 persons in the bareboat division, plus a number of part time workers, taking the total staff complement to 135.

“We’re also adjusting slightly our fleet back to pre September 11th levels,” Mr. Raas said. But he hastened to add that the fleet was increased in 2002.

He pointed out that The Moorings plans it fleet size about one or two years ahead, so that the 2002 fleet grew from 2001, but then September 11th came and the market dropped. “So, we have not reached back to the normal level and we are now bringing back the fleet to the very decent level of the pre September 11th volume.”

According to The Moorings President, no one should be concerned that they are taking half of the fleet and leaving. “We are very, very committed to the BVI, we know it is our number one destination and a most important location for us globally.”

He said overall, as far as staff and fleet are concerned, “we are not doing anything radical at all”. He said The Moorings recognizes its staff as assets and would continue to do absolutely everything to secure jobs.

“When the market recovers, as I know it will, it would take us years to recover and continue to train staff, so it’s absolutely imperative that we retain the staff we have,” Mr. Raas declared.

Dorothy Geer, Director of Public Relations, said: “we’re just doing minor adjustments to ensure that we’re going to be there for the long haul. It’s important to note that from September 11th to now, we haven’t laid off one person.”

The Moorings officials said it is critical for them to continue to train staff in the BVI to run the local operations. They commended the BVI staff, in particular Mr. Clarence Malone, Regional Director, who they said are doing “an excellent job”. All of the key staff in the bareboat division are BV Islanders. The most recent addition is Mr. Julian Hodge, new Manager of Footloose.

“The BV Islanders have proven more than capable and we’re very proud of them,” Mr. Raas told The Island Sun.

Comparing the BVI with the rest of its bases, he noted that those close to the US mainland, such as The Bahamas, Belize and Mexico, are actually up in business, but said these are small bases. He attributed the increase in business to the fact that persons don’t have to travel too far.

He said European customers are still booking very strongly and continue to travel, as they are less concerned about the threat of war than the Americans are. “Globally, we’re still poised to grow and the BVI is very much a part of that,” said Ms. Geer. “This is part of a global hiccup, but we’re taking steps to ensure continuity of business.”