Tag Archives: Caribbean Journal

Turks and Caicos Signs Deal for $224 Million Ritz-Carlton Hotel Project

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Grace Bay Beachfront

April 2, 2015 | 4:29 pm |  Grace Bay Beach pictured above

The Turks and Caicos Islands government has signed a development agreement with Desarrollos Hotel Group to build a $224 million hotel, resort, casino and spa project in the British Overseas Territory, Caribbean Journal has learned.

The project, which would be located in the Grace Bay area of the island of Providenciales, would include 124 hotel rooms, penthouses, resort residences and associated facilities, according to the government.

Ritz-Carlton Hotels Company will manage the property.

“This European Plan style hotel development provides a welcome diversification to the TCI tourism sector as it is more of a traditional hotel, rather than the previously prevalent condominium model in the TCI,” said Turks and Caicos Premier Dr Rufus Ewing. “At the same time, it further develops the luxury tourism offering in this destination with the addition of such an important luxury brand in Ritz Carlton.”

Desarrollos has been developing a number of hotels in the Caribbean region in the last few years, most notably the Ritz-Carlton Aruba.

It owns four Marriott hotels in the region, including the aforementioned Aruba property.

The government said construction work was anticipated to begin in November 2015 and would last “approximately three years.”

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By Alexander Britell – The Caribbean Journal

 

Turks and Caicos is the Caribbean’s Fastest-Growing Tourism Destination

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Turks & Caicos Islands

February 13, 2015

MIAMI — The Turks and Caicos Islands is the fastest-growing tourism destination in the wider Caribbean region, Caribbean Journal has learned.

The Turks and Caicos Tourist Board reported a 50 percent increase in stopover arrivals to the archipelago last year, by far the highest of any destination in the Caribbean in 2014.

That was a total of 435,475 stopover arrivals in 2014, up from 290,587 stopover arrivals in 2013, according to the data.

In an interview with Caribbean Journal, Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board Director Ralph Higgs said the rise was due to a number of factors.

“I certainly think not least about them is we had a good push from Mother Nature — unseasonably cold weather up North was a contributing factor,” he said. “But I also think perhaps the biggest contributing factor was accessibility to our destination. We have very good airlift from most of our gateways in North America, and we’ve had additional lift from JFK and Boston. And there’s a stepped up co-op marketing campaign with the Tourist Board and some of its private sector partner. And we’ve increased our co-op relationship with many of the major wholesalers that sell Turks and Caicos. I think that they are the contributors to what is happening here.”

Higgs told CJ that the rapid growth was in line with several years of double-digit growth for the TCI, even in the wake of the financial downturn.

“We had one of our highest years in 2011,” he said. “But we were experiencing double-digit growth even during the height of the crisis — and while that growth slowed, we didn’t see any decline in growth there. I think that’s because of, generally, the way the destination has been positioned. The clientele that patronizes [the TCI], they tend to be a little more recession-proof.”

The next-fastest-growing destination in the Caribbean 2014 was Grenada, which posted growth of 18.4 percent last year, according to an analysis by Caribbean Journal.

So how does the TCI build on this level of growth?

Higgs said a major priority would be continuing to diversify the country’s source markets, and by focusing on improving what tend to be slower months for the region like August, September and October.

And that’s borne out in the numbers.

The Turk and Caicos saw one of its biggest single improvements last year in typically-slow October, when it welcomed 36,399 tourists — a whopping 131.6 percent higher than October 2013.

“The greatest periods of growth were the traditionally slow months for the region,” he said. “That supports a strategy that we continue to try and introduce to diversify our source markets, and look very closely at markets that have opposite seasons to North America. And I think we will accelerate our push in that direction. And if we can grow the summer months here then we can expand on that growth.”

He also said the TCI was working to expand its hotel product beyond the traditional hub of Providenciales to places like South Caicos, Middle Caicos, Grand Turk and Salt Cay.

“We are now concentrating on shining the spotlight on our sister islands,” he said. “If we can bring those destinations under the spotlight and people see them for what they have to offer, there may be some real possibilities for continued growth.”

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By By Alexander Britell – Caribbean Journal

Turks and Caicos Tourist Arrivals Up 25 Percent in First Half

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August 21, 2014 | 7:01 am

Turks and Caicos Tourist Arrivals Up 25 Percent in First Half
Above: Turks and Caicos

The Turks and Caicos Islands received a total of 199,347 stopover arrivals in the first half of 2014, a 25 percent increase compared to the same period in 2013, according to newly-released government figures.

That represented the largest improvement of any Caribbean tourism destination with complete reporting for the first half, according to an analysis of Caribbean Tourism Organization data by Caribbean Journal.

The growth was driven by a strong winter and spring tourist season, the government said.

Above: the Parrot Cay resort in Turks and Caicos

The United States was the British Overseas Territory’s largest source market, accounting for 161,385 stopover arrivals, a 28 percent improvement over 2013.

The territory’s second-largest market, Canada, brought in 22,593 arrivals, a 14 percent improvement compared to the first six months of 2013.

The territory also reported increases of 17 percent and 86 percent from France and the United Kingdom, respectively.

While it accounted for a small percentage of arrivals, the territory saw a 57 percent improvement in arrivals from Brazil.

“I am extremely thrilled to know that the number of tourist arrivals are up. This attests to the fact that despite the challenges being faced throughout the world economies, travel has sustained the necessary cutbacks in leisure spending and further, our beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands remains the destination of choice,” Turks and Caicos Premier Dr Rufus Ewing said. “I am extremely optimistic and confident that our numbers will continue to climb and that our high end luxury brand destination will deliver the highest numbers that our industry has ever seen.”

In a statement, Tourism Director Ralph Higgs said the tourist board was projecting a total of 1.35 million visitors to the destination for 2014, including cruise visits.

“With the Providenciales International Airport nearing completion, we hope to improve our visitor’s experience from the point of entry until their return; ensuring that the Turks and Caicos remains top of mind, strengthening positive visitor’s reviews and referrals, thus continuing to grow our land-based arrivals in the future,” he said.

By Caribbean Journal Staff

Link to Caribbean Journal Article