What makes a world-class Hyatt hotel, an award-winning aquarium, an exhibition center and a marina run so smoothly in downtown Riverhead?
Bryan DeLuca, the executive director of the parent company that operates them all, modestly insists that he owes the great success of the Long Island Aquarium and its associated businesses to the hundreds of employees on his staff.
“When you manage people, you get good people to do their jobs well,” DeLuca said in an interview with RiverheadLOCAL on a tour of the newly opened Butterfly Exhibit. “We have a great team here, and we get a lot accomplished – and that sense of accomplishment at the end of the day is what I strive for.”
The Long Island Aquarium, formerly known as Atlantis Marine World, has indeed gotten a lot accomplished recently. Its 70,000-square-foot Hyatt Place Hotel and 5,000-square-foot Exhibition Center opened July 1, bringing more than 1,000 species of butterflies, about 80 exotic birds, and 100 all-suite hotel rooms to Riverhead’s Main Street.
The new Exhibition Center has brought crowds of all ages, both local and tourist, to enjoy the experience of walking among butterflies, one that is unique to Riverhead.
“There’s a level of interaction here that really sets this exhibit apart from others in the tri-state area,” said DeLuca as he bent down to gently pick up a vibrant, orange butterfly and place it on a plant. “A butterfly lands on you, you can feed a parakeet.”
Other exhibits in the region are outdoor hoop-houses — giant enclosures that separate the butterflies from the humans passing beneath them, DeLuca explained; they can only open for a few months during the summer.
The Exhibition Center at the Long Island Aquarium, however, is designed to have the perfect amount of air exchange and UV lighting for the many species of exotic butterflies to live comfortably within, allowing the butterflies to roam freely with the guests. In addition, the exhibit will be open year-round.
“We’ll do themed things all year — themed flower shows in the middle of December, for example,” said DeLuca.
The addition of the Hyatt hotel, DeLuca explains, was what he describes as a “no-brainer” decision. “There’s been plans for a couple of years for building a hotel, knowing the amount of business that we’ve had with our banquet events,” said DeLuca. The aquarium hosted 120 weddings last year alone, in addition to another 40-50 corporate events.
“It’s a great affordable alternative to the Hamptons, situated right between the two forks,” DeLuca continued. “It’s also completely unprecedented — there’s not an internationally-recognized hotel on Main Street in Huntington, in Patchogue, Freeport, Great Neck — this is Riverhead with a world-class hotel on Main Street.
“It will bring more and more people to downtown Riverhead, which really is our ultimate goal.”
Recently appointed executive director of Atlantis Holdings, which operates the aquarium, exhibition center, the Hyatt and a soon-to-open banquet facility, DeLuca has been the invisible hand in the progress of the popular aquarium, where he has been the general manager the past six years.
Before coming to the aquarium, DeLuca had previously worked in Manhattan for 16 years, doing marketing for an apparel and footwear company called Starter. He managed Shaquille O’Neel’s product line. He worked with executives from Walmart, Target and Sears during his experience in Manhattan, managing product lines internationally as well.
“I have a good sense of managing a business,” DeLuca explained, “so when Mr. Bisset came to me and asked me to take over the day-to-day operations for him, it seemed like a good fit for me.
“It was, of course, very different, managing an aquarium,” DeLuca continued, “but I found out very shortly that when you know how to manage people and market a business, it’s not all that terribly different ... It’s meeting guest expectations, surpassing their expectations. When people come here, we want them to be wowed by what we have.”
But DeLuca made sure to point out that the real connection happens between the local students he employs seasonally and the guests. “They’re the real front line between our product and the consumer, answering questions and helping the guests,” DeLuca said. “It’s a great team effort.”
As for future goals of the Long Island Aquarium’s properties, DeLuca said that his vision extends far beyond the walls of the aquarium.
“The big picture is about making the East End a true tourist destination,” said DeLuca. “I’m a tremendous advocate of promoting the region; I’m on the executive board of the Long Island Business Convention Bureau, and we have employees at the aquarium that are on both the Riverhead BID and Chamber boards. We do everything we can do promote downtown.”
DeLuca recently built the website EastEndGetaway.com specifically for this purpose. The website, which is advertised on the shuttle bus that transports aquarium-goers from the paid parking lot downtown to the aquarium, is a not-for-profit portal to everything involving the East End. DeLuca personally donated much of his time to building and designing the website, along with Tanger Outlets general manager Janine Nebons.
“It’s about bringing those 10 million consumers from the tri-state area to the East End to spend their money here, and to enjoy our beaches, our vineyards, our restaurants, our attractions,” said DeLuca. “We have so much to offer. And with a few more restaurants opening up downtown here, Riverhead really is becoming a getaway for locals and tourists alike.”
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl.