RITZ-CARLTON will launch its deluxe
beachhead in the Bahamas with the 230-acre Ritz-Carlton Rose
Island, scheduled for a 2009 opening on Rose Island, four miles off
Nassau and Paradise Island. The project will include a 95-room
hotel, a marina, and a collection of more than 400 estate homes,
townhouses and condominiums. Resort guests will have access to Rose
Island by ferry and helicopter. The hotel site will be on the
western side of the island with a north-facing beach. Guest rooms
and suites will average 550 square feet with large balconies. Other
amenities will include a pool, a spa, a restaurant and intimate
meetings space. Simon Cooper, president and CEO, said that
Ritz-Carlton has long wanted to add a branded resort in the
Bahamas. Rose Island was well worth waiting for. Ritz-Carlton
operates 60 hotels worldwide and has 20 projects currently under
development, with hotel openings planned for Russia, Ireland and
China over the next year. Caribbean resorts are in Grand Cayman,
Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas; a resort on West Caicos in
the Turks and Caicos is set to open in December 2007.
DESPITE TWO
HURRICANES which temporarily halted visitor arrivals
midway last year, Jamaica welcomed a record just under 1.5 million
visitors in 2005, eclipsing the 2004 record of 1.4 million by 4.5%,
according to Paul Pennicook, director of tourism. The momentum has
continued this year with January arrivals up 11% over the same
month last year, Pennicook said. The airports in Montego Bay and
Kingston are expanding facilities to accommodate the increases in
airlift and arrivals. Overall, Caribbean tourism in 2005 held its
own, according to Arley Sobers, director of research and
information management for the Caribbean Tourism Organization. An
initial forecast for this year, based upon arrivals to date, is
that the current winter season will surpass last winter, due in
part to increased airlift to the region. The CTO predicted
continued moderate growth this year, in the 2.5% to 3.5% range,
Sobers said. Tourist arrivals in 2005 to 31 CTO member countries,
which encompassed the English-, French-, Dutch- and
Spanish-speaking Caribbean, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and
Puerto Rico, increased by 3.6% to 22.5 million visitors, albeit
down from the 6.9% growth of 2004 and the 7.1% increase in
2003.
LODGEPODGE
" Mount Nevis Hotel
on Nevis is offering a Four Fab Friends, Five Nevis Nights package
through Dec. 15 for any four women who need a getaway together.
Priced from $995 per person, double, the plan covers
accommodations; transfers; daily breakfast and three dinners; use
of a car rental during the stay; a massage for each guest; a
snorkeling trip to St. Kitts; and one free night on a return trip.
If booked by March 15, Mount Nevis will throw in the sixth night
for free (but meals are not covered). For details, call (800)
75-NEVIS.
" Beaches
is offering its fourth annual Single Parent
Friendly (SPF) promotion during May and from Aug. 18 to Oct. 31.
Throughout the promotion, Beaches will waive the single supplement
(of up to $180 per night) for single parents traveling with
children and will implement SPF on-site activities. These include
receptions and kids movie nights to allow parents to spend
one-on-one time with their children during the day and partake in
adult conversation and fellowship at night. The SPF offer is
available at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa in
Providenciales, Turks & Caicos; and in Jamaica, at Beaches
Negril Resort & Spa and Beaches Sandy Bay, both in Negril, and
Beaches Boscobel Resort & Golf Club in Ocho Rios. A three-night minimum stay is required; nightly rates
range from $206.25 per adult and $67.50 per child. For details,
call (800) BEACHES or visit www.beaches.com.
PENCIL IT
IN
" 16th annual
Moonsplash Music Festival, March 16 to 19, Anguilla. The festival
is always held at the time of the full moon in March; musicians
this year include Bijou Banton, Bankie Banx and Alana Davis.
Advance ticket prices range from $25 to $50 per person. New this
year as part of the festival is the Anguillian Cultural and Arts
Fair on March 18 in The Valley; admission to the fair is free. For
details, visit www.bankiebanx.net.
" CTOs annual
Caribbean Week 2006, June 11 to 17, New York City. Events include
the inaugural Caribbean Gospelfest, a celebrity cricket match,
celebrity chef presentations, town hall meetings, a two-day
Caribbean Fair, two Caribbean weddings, the Media Marketplace and
the 33rd Annual Governments of the Caribbean State Ball at the
Waldorf-Astoria. For information, visit www.caribbeanweekny.com or www.onecaribbean.org.