Oct. 25--CASTRIES, St. Lucia--The 256-room Club Med all-inclusive hotel in St. Lucia, has become the latest casualty of the declining world economic environment and will not reopen for the normally busy winter season, officials said on Thursday. 

It is the fifth hotel to cease operations here this year because of falling business resulting from the international recession. 

Two of the others, operated by the British company Rex Resorts International, will reopen in December as planned after a six-month shutdown, but with less staff than the 300-odd workers it previously employed. 

The Club Med property here, located in the town of Vieux Fort, south of Castries has in recent times been doing business only for about six months of the year during the winter, because of low occupancy levels in the summer months. 

News of the closure was released by the National Workers Union (NWU) which represents the hotel's 330-odd workers. But a check with the hotel's public relations department confirmed that this was so. 

NWU President General, Tyrone Maynard, said he was summoned to an emergency meeting with the hotel management Wednesday and informed of the decision. 

He said the recession, coupled with the effects of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, had affected the hotel's business to the point where it felt it was better to stay closed. 

Maynard said the hotel had informed him of the decision to close 17 of its properties worldwide. 

"In St. Lucia's case we were told that from their projections they were looking at a 20 per cent occupancy that would not sustain the hotel operations." 

The hotel was expected to reopen this month for the winter season after the annual six month closure. 

Maynard said Club Med had worked out an economic package for the employees to tide them over during the months the property was closed. 

"The workers earned 75 per cent of their basic salary, but this new scenario has changed things completely", Maynard said. 

He said he would meet the employees next Monday to discuss severance packages offered by the company and based on their reaction, he would be meeting with the hotel's management team again the following Friday. 

St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association President, Berthia Parle said the news of the hotel's closure came as a "shock". She said her organisation had spoken with officials of the hotel and received an indication of their reasons for the closure. 

"It's obviously a corporate international decision", she said. 

"We will be speaking with Club Med again to see what their plans are, if they can reconsider and possibly look at reopening as planned in a year's time." 

Meanwhile, the two Rex hotels, the Royal St. Lucian and Papillion which closed in June, will be reopen in December. 

However, Ross Stevenson, general manager of the Royal, said the hotels will not operate on the scale originally planned because of a shortfall in visitor arrivals. 

Stevenson said there would be changes which would affect the number of job opportunities available at the two hotels, and the third member of the Rex chain, the Rex St. Lucian. 

"The forecast is for a softer winter season this year and a softer summer next year. So there will be fewer positions than we have been accustomed to in the past," he said. 

-----To see more of the Caribbean News Agency, or to subscribe, go to http://www.cananews.com 

(c) 2001, Caribbean News Agency. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. CMI,,