RIU Jamaica Palace cops US-based Cheap Caribbean Pineapple Award
Published:Monday | February 24, 2020 | 12:20 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
RIU Palace Jamaica bested 650 other resorts in the Caribbean to cop the United States-based Cheap Caribbean’s Noble Beach Prize Pineapple Award after being voted the ‘Customer Favourite’ by the online travel agency’s clients.
The Montego Bay-based hotel initially made a shortlist of 10 resorts based on customer reviews, followed by which Cheap Caribbean opened voting to its customers on social media and in an email survey, according to president of Cheap Caribbean, Mike Lowery.
The award package, which was presented at a ceremony at the hotel last Thursday, includes a plaque and US$100,000 worth of marketing exposure spanning a two-week period, a banner on Cheap Caribbean’s website, dedicated emails to clients, site placements on the company’s homepage, and a series of dedicated blog posts.
Senior director of marketing for Cheap Caribbean, Dana Studebaker, said RIU Resorts, a 20-year-old company, has been a very strong destination where bookings are concerned.
“RIU is one of our most important partners. Customers love the atmosphere of the partying. We actually kind of target our marketing to what we call the ‘woo-hoo’ girl, the woman somewhere between 25 and 45, and they enjoy coming to resorts like this that have a lot of activities going on, so RIU, for us, has always been a very strong seller,” she said.
Frank Sondern, director of operations for RIU Hotels and Resorts in Jamaica and general manager of RIU Palace Jamaica, attributed the win to the contributions of the staff, as well as its loyal guests.
“We are very proud to receive this award and we are very thankful. I am very proud of the staff in the hotel, because without them, this wouldn’t be possible,” he stated.
RIU’s director of sales for Jamaica, Niurka Garcia-Linton, said copping the Golden Pineapple award speaks volumes about the quality of service given at RIU Palace Jamaica, as it was the only user-chosen award on the travel agency’s list.
“We are not only honoured, but we are also delighted with this news. It means that we are doing something exceptionally right. It speaks to the level of excellence that RIU Palace Jamaica and the RIU chain has to offer,” said Garcia-Linton.
“It means that in Jamaica, our clients come first. It means that we stand apart on a landscape of awesome product lines that continue to improve on a regular basis,” she said.