Windjammer Landing Managing Director Mark Ozawa

In a classic example of one thing leading to another, respected hotel industry consultant Mark Ozawa last fall found himself as the new managing director of the Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort, a 60-acre, 350-room property on the picturesque Caribbean island of St. Lucia. The story of how he got there is a fascinating one.

“It was really a bit of serendipity,” says Ozawa, who had been president of Accuvia Consulting when the resort’s owners contacted him for help with issues related to the its property management system. “I didn’t think it was the PMS but perhaps a process and procedures issue. So we did some process reengineering, and the focus evolved into customer service issues. Fairly quickly we were able to make some improvements in efficiencies, which also created tangible benefits to guests.”

Next, Ozawa examined the resort’s food and beverage and sales and marketing operations, and by September the consulting assignment became a full-time engagement. In October, he left Accuvia to become the resort’s managing director. “I found it to be a great resort with great people, and I sensed an opportunity to do great things for the staff as well as the owners.”

While Ozawa is best known as a hotel consultant (before Accuvia, he held senior positions at Sceptre and HSP Consulting), he came to the St. Lucia job with plenty of hands-on hotel experience, including 18 years at Westin in a variety of operations and technical systems positions.

The Windjammer Landing Resort has 261 units, 350 bedrooms and a timeshare component.

Little did Ozawa know, however, that within weeks of his appointment, Hurricane Tomas would rake the island, causing $500 million in damage and taking 14 lives. Luckily, the property suffered minimal damage, although most of the island had no running water for nearly two weeks. “We learned a lesson from that experience,” says Ozawa, “and that was the problem with dependency on the island’s water infrastructure. As a result, we’re exploring the possibility of installing a desalination unit at the resort as a back-up water supply.”

Sadly, many of the resort’s employees were affected by the storm. Some workers’ homes were destroyed or significantly damaged, and as a response, the Windjammer’s owner (EllisDon, a $3.3-billion construction company based in Canada) issued an appeal to the resort’s timeshare owners and past guests to help with the relief efforts. So far, several hundred thousand dollars have been raised and the money has been used to assist in rebuilding and refurnishing employee homes.

“Many past guests are sending new and used clothing to distribute to employees who need it,” says Ozawa, “and nearly every note that comes with the contributions mentions the high levels of service they’ve received at the resort. And some of them mention specific staff members by name.”

During the immediate aftermath of the early November storm, Ozawa and his staff used e-mail and social media, specifically Facebook, to keep potential visitors and others informed of the conditions at the resort and, more generally, on the island.

“The power of Facebook was an eye-opening experience for me,” he says. “Since the storm, many guests have mentioned to me and our staff how our page was the most up-to-date source of information about St. Lucia. I’ve even had some guests say they recognize me from my picture on the Facebook page.”