Southern Palms Beach Club & Resort Hotel | 9
forts to help the family of a local quadruple-
amputee sickle-cell anemia patient.
Local farmers are used to address food
needs on the property and local suppliers
are sought for equipment when the property
embarks on a renovation project.
“We’ve been here a while, so obviously
we’ve done improvements along the way
and we’re trying to do that consistently so
we don’t have to shut down and do big re-
constructions,” Pollard said. “We’re not go-
ing to reconstruct the layout of the property,
but we continuously improve the facilities in
terms of new technology, etc., over the years.
That’s an ongoing project.”
That aim for improvement isn’t limited to
just the buildings.
Nationwide tourist arrivals in Barbados
were up 1.1 percent in the first two months
of 2014 as opposed to January/February of
2013, according to the Barbados Statistical
Service, which had indicated a 5.2-percent
dip in overall arrivals in 2013 compared to
overall 2012.
The trend applied to Southern Palms as
well; occupancy for January/February 2014
was up 10 percent over the same period in
2013.
“As an island and as a region, we’ve all suf-
fered over the last five years. We have as well,”
she says. “Some businesses have not been
able to survive it. Most of us are still here,
trying to hold on and looking forward to an
improvement, where we can then be able to
grow with that improvement.
“We certainly plan to be here.”
