Royal Caribbean purchases land on Paradise Island Nassau, Bahamas

[FlowBroTy]

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/feb/27/royal-caribbeans-pi-land-deals-revealed/

 

I wonder if this will be like coco beach club style. Or something else?

[The Grumpus]

I hope they know what they’re doing. They’ve lost about 45% of their market cap since the beginning of the year.  They’re starting to look leveraged. 

[jsf]

Looks like another beach resort type setup similar to Antiqua, a money maker.

[ssb]

 

 

 

 

Royal Caribbean, ITM Group Launch Sustainable Destination Company

by Adam Leposa

Jun 24, 2019 9:00am

 

The company's first venture will be the redevelopment of the Grand Lucayan resort in Freeport, the Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and ITM Group have partnered to form a new destination development company called Holistica. The two companies say that Holistica will aim to create an inclusive model for destination development to meet the need of coastal communicates, local governments, and land, sea and air travelers.

 

"The continuing growth and rising popularity of cruise vacations make it clear that the sustainable development of coastal destinations, including the thoughtful evolution of existing ones, is in the travel industry's best interest," said Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley in a written statement.

Holistica will be a 50 – 50 partnership between Royal Caribbean and ITM Group, who have begun a search for a CEO for the new company. Holistica will be headquartered in Miami.

 

Holistica’s first project will be a $275 million development in Freeport, The Bahamas, which was originated by Royal Caribbean and ITM and is currently under review by the Bahamian government. Centered on the regeneration of the Grand Lucayan resort, Royal Caribbean says that the project includes plans for local ownership, employment, job training, community investment and sustainable construction practices.

In addition to the Freeport project, the companies said the new venture will own and operate destinations in Costa Maya, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Kumamoto, Japan. These projects, among others, will serve 8 million visitors annually, and be accessible to all travelers, including land and air vacationers and guests of multiple cruise lines. Holistica is also engaged in discussions regarding multiple existing and proposed destinations around the world, the two companies said.

[SG65CB]

I can give them some advice based on experience:

 

Guests at a resort hate when a cruise ship arrives and the resort is flooded with passengers on day passes. 

 

Cruise ship guests who buy day passes hate when they are restricted to certain areas of the resort, or given second-class seating at the beach. 

[Ourusualbeach]

6 hours ago, Heymarco said:

I saw this today and am wondering what they have planned. Maybe something more tranquil compared to Perfect Day? 
 

Has anyone been to that side of Paradise Island?

It’s the Western end.  No way out there. Looks like it’s crown land out by the lighthouse plus some private properties. 

[Joebucks]

I think this is a smart idea, and very much needed.

 

I'm not one of those people who will "stay on the boat" if I'm mildly inconvenienced, but places like Freeport aren't exactly my favorite. However, with Carnival buying land, you know that you are in for a convenient beach day, with all kinds of other facilities close by. Plus, of course, having the option to go out and venture if you wanted. This will also allow the island to carry more visitors without disrupting normal flows

 

This will obviously also be another money stream for the cruise line

[wolfganghowell]

I got a survey from Royal several months ago regarding this.  They are planning a beach resort for cruise passengers only.  Lots of questions about AI or ala carte - upscale vs mass audience, extras like cabanas, pool, swim up bar, kids/no kids etc etc.  It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

[dreadpirate3]

Not sure how much information in this article is new. http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/mar/04/cruise-line-confirms-pi-project-cost-50m/

 

Begin Quote

 

By Denise Maycock

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

Royal Caribbean will invest around $50m to develop its Royal Beach Club project on Paradise Island, its chief executive has revealed, having set a late 2022 target date for its opening.

Michael Bayley, who is also the cruise line’s president, told Tribune Business while in Grand Bahama on Monday that all employees who work there will be Bahamian although he gave no figure for the number of likely hires.

“We are still working through all of the details of the Royal Beach Club, and the investment will be at a minimum at $50m, and that’s not including the cost of acquiring the land. So, it is a fairly significant project,” he said.

Royal Caribbean is understood to have spent around $54m on acquiring a series of residential properties at the western end of Paradise Island. Tribune Business exclusively revealed earlier this week that the cruise line has submitted an application to lease around 10 acres of Crown Land in the Colonial Beach area, which it will combine with its private acquisitions to form the Beach Club.

Mr Bayley voiced optimism that the Royal Beach Club will be a top-class addition to Nassau’s tourism sector, offering visitors a “Bahamian beach club” experience. He added that all the employees who will work there will be Bahamians.

“It is a beach club experience, and people want to have a Bahamian beach club experience,” he said. When asked about the amenities that will be offered, Mr Bayley said Royal Caribbean was not quite ready to talk about that aspect, but plans to reveal images, concepts and descriptions of the experience they are going to create in the coming months.

“We expect it to be up and running by hopefully late 2022,” Mr Bayley said of the Paradise Island project. “We acquired land over a period of a few years actually on Paradise Island, and we have been working on this concept for quite some time – the Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island.

“We think it is going to be yet again another wonderful attribute to tourism in Nassau. It is going to allow Royal Caribbean to increase the number of ships that we bring to Nassau and The Bahamas, even more than we do today.

“I think now in 2019 we are the number one cruise company bringing tourists to The Bahamas. We think it is part of the ongoing development of attractions and destination experiences that really are critical if you want to be a world-class vacation company. And so we are very excited about this opportunity.”

Mr Bayley added that Royal Caribbean is in talks with various stakeholders to ensure the project is successful and welcomed by all.

“We are in discussions with all types of different communities and groups because, again, we want the Beach Club to be a win-win,” he said. “It will be a win for the local community, it will be a win for the folks who are engaged in the Lighthouse Project. And that is our intention to find a way so that everybody leaves the table and is involved in something that is regarded as successful.”

Mr Bayley’s comments came as after Tribune Business reported complaints earlier this week by Toby Smith, the Bahamian principal of Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club Company, that the government was pressuring him to accept an “inferior” crown land parcel to the one contained in a lease agreement issued to him just two months ago so that Royal Caribbean’s desires can be accommodated. The Royal Caribbean chief’s remarks, though, indicate that the cruise line may be amenable to a better compromise solution with him.

However, Royal Caribbean’s plans and the government’s actions raise multiple questions that have yet to be answered. Not least is the fact that the private properties that the cruise line has acquired are all residential, meaning that the area would have to be re-zoned for commercial use under planning laws. It is unlikely Royal Caribbean would have proceeded without assurances this would happen.

Carl Bethel QC, the attorney general, also told this newspaper yesterday that allowing Royal Caribbean to have its own private Paradise Island destination is required to improve the cruise visitor experience in Nassau, and effectively represents a trade-off for the increased port and tourist fees that will finance Prince George Wharf’s $250m upgrade by Global Ports Holding.

However, this appears to directly contradict the strategy and rationale for embarking on the Nassau cruise port upgrade in the first place. It was billed as the catalyst for kick-starting the much-talked-about revival of Bay Street and the downtown Nassau area, improving the port’s competitiveness, enticing more passengers off the ships and improving visitor spending yields with local businesses.

This could all be undermined if Royal Caribbean automatically directs, and takes, all its passengers to a destination that it controls on Paradise Island. Apart from uncertainty over whether Bahamians would have access, the cruise lines typically dictate marks-ups, margins and pricing to any locally-owned businesses that operate in their private locations.

Royal Caribbean’s interest in having its own private destination in Nassau is thought to have been sparked by the success Atlantis has enjoyed in attracting cruise passengers to its water park on day passes. It now wants to retain all this income, and appears likely to end up competing directly with Bay Street and Bahamian-owned businesses to achieve this.

Bay Street and downtown Nassau businesses have already reacted with fury to Royal Caribbean’s plans. Leon Griffin, Treasure Bahamas general manager, queried “how will Bay Street businesses survive” if Royal Caribbean’s ambitions are realised. He said: “We depend solely on the cruise passengers and those who are residing in the hotels who come downtown to purchase.

“But if they have their own spot, like how they have got the different cays, and when you go on the different cays nobody else benefits except themselves [the cruise lines], how could the Government of The Bahamas allow such a thing to happen?”

“It’s terrible. It’s going to affect the whole of Bay Street whether we like it or not, and this government needs to rethink what they are doing because they are not thinking for the people. I’m p----- off about it to be honest with you.

“When I heard about it I didn’t understand what they were doing, but now I realise. How could the government do something like that? They continue to give away the people’s properties, and yet when Bahamians apply for crown land it’s a hell to get through with.”

End Quote

 

It seems like not everyone is pleased with the deal. I look forward to seeing how things shape up, and might book a cruise to Nassau again.

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by dreadpirate3

[crewsweeper]

I'd be curious as to what they plan for other ports.  In Costa Maya the malecon is already crowded and new places are popping up.  But looks like Royal is pushing a beach break to LaBamba south of the malecon but before Maya Chan.  Facilities are a bunch of reconditioned shipping containers.  Not sure if a huge resort like development would work there. 

[bobmacliberty]

Will be nice to have an option instead of Nassau...assuming that's the plan instead of in addition to Nassau.  Won't be long before most Eastern itineraries will be Freeport, CocoCay, and Antigua.

[hotsauce126]

Sounds like it's in the same vein as Virgin's Beach Club at Bimini

[jsf]

20 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Will be nice to have an option instead of Nassau...assuming that's the plan instead of in addition to Nassau.  Won't be long before most Eastern itineraries will be Freeport, CocoCay, and Antigua.

There already building a Club on Antigua I heard.