SOL KERZNER, chairman and CEO of Kerzner
International, plans to spend another $600 million on Paradise
Island, the Bahamas, home of his 2,317-room Atlantis resort. Three
new luxury villas will debut late next year as part of the rollout
of Kerzner's One&Only resort branding initiative. The
One&Only Ocean Club expansion will bring to 109 the total room
count at the resort, including beachfront suites, rooms and garden
cottages with butler service. At Atlantis, Kerzner plans new
meetings and function space, restaurants, retail shops,
water-themed attractions and a new golf course on nearby Athol
Island. The completion in 2006 will bring Kerzner's total
investment on Paradise Island to $1.7 billion since 1994 when
Atlantis opened.
LOTS IS PLANNED for agents attending the
Caribbean Tourism Organization's annual Caribbean Tourism
Conference Oct. 14 to 18 in St. Thomas. Motivational speaker Bob
Stalbaum will plug marketing strategies; meanwhile, niche marketing
experts will focus on selling weddings, honeymoons and eco-tourism
adventures. The Travel Institute, formerly the Institute of
Certified Travel Agents, is offering four credits to agents who
participate in four spotlight presentations. Throughout the
conference, agents also can attend general sessions and participate
in product tours of St. Thomas or St. John. Optional post tours of
St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas will be available. The agent
registration price of $275 per person, double, covers
accommodations, transfers, business sessions, programmed meals,
social events, taxes and service charges. Discounted air is
available with American, Continental, LIAT, United and US Airways.
For details, visit www.onecaribbean.org or call (212) 635-9530.
AIR BYTES
• Cayman Airways launched a buy-one-get-one-free promotion, valid
through Oct. 31, which offers free companion air fare with the
purchase of a Cayman Islands' H2GO! package. Five tour operators
participate in the program. The offer applies to Cayman's nonstop
services from Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Miami and Tampa to Grand
Cayman. For details, visit www.caymanairways.com.
• Air Jamaica introduced e-ticketing for both phone and Web
reservations. E-tickets must be booked two business days prior to
travel and are valid for all Air Jamaica routes. In other Air
Jamaica news, Michael Going will join the carrier Oct. 13 as senior
vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. He will replace
Allen Chastanet who resigned in August to enter the hotel
business.
THE ARUBA TOURISM AUTHORITY is running a series
of agent seminars in the Northeast and Midwest. Here's the
schedule: Sept. 29, Sheraton Baltimore North, Towson, Md.; Hilton
Philadelphia, Philadelphia (dinner); Sept. 30, Sheraton Newark,
Newark; Oct. 1, The Weeping Willow, Farmingdale, N.Y.; Oct. 2, the
Ramada Plaza, Shelton, Conn.; Rocky Hill Marriott, Rocky Hill,
Conn.; Oct. 3, Boston Marriott Newton, Newton, Mass.; Oct. 20,
Minneapolis Airport Marriott, Bloomington, Minn.; Oct. 21, the
Carlisle, Lombard Ill. (Chicago area); Oct. 22, Marriott Detroit
Troy, Troy, Mich.; Oct. 23, Holiday Inn, Independence, Ohio (near
Cleveland/Akron area). For details, visit http://agents.aruba.com.