Wyndham resort lays off 200 workers in Puerto Rico

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DANICA COTO | December 2, 2008 03:04 PM EST | AP


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — About 200 workers have been laid off from a luxury resort in Puerto Rico, officials said Tuesday, adding to the struggles of a Caribbean hotel industry hit by falling revenues and bookings due to the global financial crisis.

The layoffs represent 20 percent of the 1,000 workers at Wyndham Worldwide Corp's Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa along the island's northeast coast, said Rebecca Ramos, a spokeswoman for Puerto Rico's Labor Department.

Most of the laid-off employees worked in catering and transportation, hotel spokeswoman Veronica Taveira said.

"The combination of a challenging economic environment and reduced airlift to Puerto Rico have slowed down demand for resort destinations," said Rio Mar spokeswoman Jordan Wilson.

Another luxury hotel in the U.S. Caribbean territory, the Caribe Hilton, dismissed more than 50 employees in November.

Puerto Rico's dominant carrier, American Airlines, cut daily flights out of the capital from 93 to 51 in September. And hotels across the island are reporting a 10 percent drop in bookings or more, leading to an increase in layoffs, said Clarisa Jimenez, president of the Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association.

"The phones are not ringing as much," Jimenez said. "It is really, really slow."

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The association recently launched a campaign urging residents to be friendly toward tourists in hopes of luring others to the island.

Wyndham CEO Stephen Holmes said recently that consumers are looking for holiday destinations they can drive to.

"Americans are in a wait and see mode, booking closer and closer to the departure date, shopping for deals," he said.

Other Caribbean destinations are also suffering.

The Atlantis resort in the Bahamas has fired about 800 workers, while Baha Mar Resorts Ltd. dismissed about 40 employees at its Sheraton Resort in the Bahamas and 40 more at the Wyndham Nassau Resort.

The financial crisis also has paralyzed construction of multimillion-dollar resorts in the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos and other Caribbean nations.