Tucker’s Point Resort Goes Into Receivership
[Updated] Bermuda Properties Ltd — which owns the Rosewood Tucker’s Point resort — has gone into receivership, with the receivers saying the property was “experiencing financial difficulties” and the restructuring is required to “secure the resort’s long-term viability”.
Roy Bailey and Keiran Hutchison of Ernst & Young Ltd., Bermuda have been appointed Joint Receivers of Bermuda Properties Ltd and certain subsidiaries which own the Tucker’s Point resort.
A statement from the Company said, “The receiverships only affect the companies that own the property and do not affect Rosewood Hotels & Resorts LLC, who will continue to operate the resort and golf club on a business as usual basis.
“Guests and members – both present and future – should have continued enjoyment of the facilities Tucker’s Point has to offer and are all encouraged to do so.
“As is customary in these circumstances, the Receivers will be undertaking a review of the companies and their operations in conjunction with Rosewood, and that will be done on the basis that it remains business as usual.”
Roy Bailey of EY comments, “Tucker’s Point has been experiencing financial difficulties recently and a restructuring of the companies that own the property is required to secure the resort’s long-term viability”.
He adds, “the appointment of Receivers is part of a debt restructuring and will not affect the operation of the resort. The proposed restructuring should put Tucker’s Point in a better position to continue operating as a flagship Bermuda resort in future seasons.”
Opened in 2009, the property was originally named Tucker’s Point, and was rebranded in 2011 as Rosewood Tucker’s Point.
Update 4.38pm: Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell said, “The Government is disappointed by the news that Bermuda Properties Ltd. – owners of Tucker’s Point – has gone into receivership. We had hoped it could have been avoided.
“Despite rising occupancy rates, the resort operation has been struggling for years with significant debt challenges, as was highlighted in the Legislature’s 2011 debate to approve its expansion plans.
“Although we are not aware of all the details, we are encouraged by the fact that Rosewood Hotels and Resorts has agreed to continue operating the luxury property on a business-as-usual basis.
“It is a sign of confidence by one of the world’s leading hoteliers. While the move to receivership is a setback, it does create an opportunity to restructure the resort’s financial situation.
“Rosewood Tucker’s Point is an outstanding property – world class in its setting and facilities – whose best days are ahead, and Government will work with management and staff to support its future success.”
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Goodness. It will only end when we can somehow get people to visit us on a year round basis in significant enough numbers. 10% occupancy 5 months of the year doesn’t make up for a few months at 90% in the summer.
So lets hear it, what do we need to offer people to make us a year round destination on top of what we already have?
and they just got approval to tear up all that lovely land down by their golf course for more fractional units! SMH!
A BIG FAT NOTHING
Reasonably priced hotel rooms and more entertainment during the off season might help….
My previous experience with Tuckers Point when I was working for a cruise line that they were strickly members and paying guests only. Its great they are keeping it private but amenities like the golf course, spa and restaurant/bar could be utilize by the public for additional sourced of revenue.
Anyone can eat and drink at The Point… anyone that can afford it!
@ Anonion: Answer to your ? Legalize weed and I’d bet your bottom dollar Bermuda would have an influx of people coming here to try out our Bermuda greens…
is that everyone’s solution to everything? “Legalize weed and all will be well in the world.” grow up.
I doubt that is the kind of attraction that Bermuda needs, a bunch of pot heads smoking up all day….
But we are fine with a bunch drinkers guzzling up all day right? Such hypocrites.
You’re the one who needs to grow up if you think the only thing all cannabis smokers do all day is sit around smoking up. Some may do this but this is the same as the some who sit around drinking alcohol all day.
Netherlands receives millions of visitors yearly because of their cannabis cafes. Not all these visitors don’t sit around all day blazing. Most of these visitors especially the repeat ones go also visit museums, art galleries, go to concerts & other types of performances, go on canal rides, go shopping, go to the zoo & since one of the main symptoms of smoking weed is the munchies they also visit many restaurants to eat, eat, eat & eat some more. The towns that took on the tourist bans are already starting to experience negative economic effects of this choice from all tourist catering industries there not just the herb cafes.
I dare someone to blame this on de PLP!!!!!! LMAO
Oh just wait for Raymond Ray, Triangle Drifter or Changer to get a hold of this story and they will do just that.
And if the sun doesn’t come up tomorrow, they will blame that on the PLP too.
The sun won’t come up tomorrow, because it will be rainy. And it was the PLP’s fault, since they started in the PLP’s term. haha
Oh right. Things were going great up until December 2012 were they?
I”ll given it a try….did the PLP force the developer to build a hotel I order to get approval to build housing? Same as the wharf..ever see anyone stay there? Had to build a small hotel in order to build condos..just another in a long long list of failed and inept policies by people who had no business running Bermuda……but they did make themselves rich…..
I KNOW A TOURIST AUTHORITY HAAAAA!!!!!!!!! YOU OBA FOOLS!!!!!
If you think 14 years of damage is wiped away after 1 year of governance then I’m afraid you have mis directed your comment. We will all be paying the price of severe corruption here for a long time to come and ending the divisiveness is our only escape. Work together or fail devided. It’s really quite that simple. Weed, casinos, more hotels, development will mean zero unless we all work together to make it happen. Stop thinking on such short term gains with such pricey long term goals. This is what happens when people don’t invest in a strong education system.
I’m no PLP or OBA fan, but I wouldn’t say 14years. More like the years from 2008-2012 were not so good for Bermuda for many reasons.
When everyone in all industries were making top dollar prior to 2008 nobody was complaining but that was indeed the problem.
The writing was on the wall in 2000 and the pencil was being sharpened long before then. Division is the key to failure. Change that and we will be fine.
And if it closes what then?
Medical Marijuana zones. Hostels (extremely cheap accommodation), Gambling is so 90′s should have been done, More secure Banking legislation(Switzerland), Food/land subsidies for farmers to bolster our local food production, Industrial fish farming being that were in the middle of the Atlantic ocean surrounded by fish/ open ocean, oil and gas exploration in our surrounding ocean, I could go on all day the problem to me is a lack of talent in the Bermudian upperclasses, Government, Business leadership this also alludes to the problems of plutocracy it gives power by birth rather than merit…
How about specials for the locals? In the Cayman Islands, they encourage locals to use their hotels and tourist facilities by giving the locals a ‘membership card’ that entitles them to a % off when using these facilities.
I know that I would use the hotels more if rates were reduced for locals. I wrote to the Newstead back in August to try and book a room for two nights but they would not budge on a deal for myself as a local. Shame of it is, once in a hotel for a weekend on the island I spend exclusively at the hotel, room service, amenities etc so they missed out on a lot of $$’s.
These hotels could perhaps put up facebook pages and give “last minute deals” – I know that if I was at a loss for a weekend and had a bit of extra cash I would jump at the opportunity for a bit of pampering, sitting round a pool with a cocktail or using the spa.
Just a thought…………….
The hotels do offer rates to locals!!!
All you have to do is call. Just get on the phone and talk to someone and they are more than willing to give you the pertinent information. It’s not like you are making an international call and have to pay extra for it.
Seriously and that’s all you have to say on the matter. I did call around all the hotels (as noted in my post) and the best offer available was $300 a night before taxes. The sarcasm about “international calls” was a bit childish but if that’s the level of your comments and the sort of response you would give to a constructive comment on the matter then perhaps I should not have risen to your inane response because you have basically made me stoop to your level.
Jeez, how hard is it to make a contribution anywhere on a Bermuda blog without some prat giving it their best shot at putting you down.
I agree. Locals are willing and able to spend that anniversayr or birthday budget on an evening at Tuckers Point or any local hotel property. It seems that the “local deal” presently offered on island is still not really a deal deal. They need to be more agressive in both their rates and the marketing of those rates.
With the outrageous cost of rent , or a mortgage if you’re lucky enough , not to mention everything else that it takes to live independently , you still have money to spend on hotels ? ?
Fack , you must not only be an old hand , you gotta have a sh*tload of old money too.
The only way I could afford a luxo weekend at any local hotel was if I won it in a raffle.
Posh , though . Good for you.
touchee sir, touchee
Seriously, that’s all you’ve got to say on the matter!!! *sarcasm*
I’ll have you know we rent a very cheap place, our apartment is outfitted with second hand goods from emoo, we don’t go out and we work bloody hard. I don’t have designer handbags, we saved as we worked and rarely if ever now do we go off the island. We drive a small daewoo matiz and we have no children – all grown up and flown the nest. So, yes, I would say we do have some extra cash, but as has been pointed out, the hotels are not aggressive enough in their pricing for locals. No I cannot afford a $300 a night hotel, drop it to $100 a night and I’d be more than happy to treat ourselves to the odd weekend stay at a hotel. Don’t be so bloody biased, it’s attitudes like yours and assumptions that are made by many on this site (and others) that make me realise what is so wrong about this island sometimes and how small minded people can be.
Gaming and decrimilization/legalization required
Well, for a start, 12 months of decent weather would be nice.
well we have no control over that….
lol call the premier!
I’m hardly surprised! The rates there are so expensive, even for Bermuda. As a local they would only offer me a rate of $595 + taxes for their most basic room, nothing else included. It was only available Sunday-Thursday as well.
Whereas other places, like Pompano, offer locals $300 inc. taxes, breakfast and a five course evening meal!! I’m not saying that Tucker’s shouldn’t charge more, but a deal now and then for locals wouldn’t go amiss!
This is a real concern for Bermuda – the timing could not be worse!
Some may say that gaming would have saved the hotel but the reality is that it probably would not.
I hope there is a serious examination of the causes so that Bermuda can learn from them since we have Hamilton Princess and Pink Beach abot to undergo significant upgrades.
such a nice spot. glad to read that rosewood wont be cutting ties. there’s potential
I think everyone knew it would be a failure,like the white elephant it is.
It’s an ugly set of buildings and they charge way over the top for Motel type service.
Call a ask about prices and make sure you are sitting down…you can fly to Las Vegas and have a blast there for much less!
Sad but it was inevitable from the start. Bermuda Properties selling the island
short from the beginning saying they had to build the villas before the hotel to
get enough $$$ to pay for the hotel. Agree with Nuffin but da Truth,… such an
ugly set of buildings. Imagine paying $800 thinking you could sit on your balcony to view
the waters of Castle Harbour. Instead having to look at bathing suits hanging on lines to dry in
the condos built right in front of the hotel.
Hero of the Year Award needs to go to Stuart Hayward who fought so brilliantly over the
Tucker’s Point land grab debacle .
That’s going to leave a mark on HSBC
HSBC are not consumer friendly, I and others are tired of talking to people in Malasia to sort out a banking question in Bermuda !!!!!
I wonder how many consumers have had enough of HSBC ?
I ,too, am sick of talking to people in Malaysia when contacting HSBC. That’s why most of my money is with Capital G
As a member, it was obvious to me that this was coming. Rosewood’s management has been incompetent at best and price-gouging at worst. Although Rosewood isn’t in receivership, they take orders from the owners, who wold want to get as much cash out as they could. So they recruited a bunch of new members with special deals, then charged insane prices for events, facilites, etc., slowly converting brand equity into cash.
To illustrate how bad it got: at one recent event, they charged $150/person for a BBQ that was basically burgers and dogs. They wouldn’t give anything but bottom-shelf liquor for the two included drinks. So in addition to $100K initiation and $8800 in annual dues, they charge $12 for a plastic cup of crummy wine that costs $9 a bottle in stores. Many members were quite upset.
They also tried socking a prominent local charity with an enormous and unexpected liquor bill after an event they paid to have at Tucker’s earlier this year. Needless to say, their event won’t be held at Tucker’s next year.
At least the new Sul Verde is good. It must be run by someone other than Rosewood.
As a young Bermudian who has traveled all around the world Bermuda is way to expensive. There are Many other places in the world that are much more affordable and have a lot more to offer. Bermuda needs to look at what we have offer in comparison to our competitors . The is no FUN on this island and the government both past and present have failed to make Bermuda a must visit destination. From my experience from traveling Bermuda is just a 21 mile Senior Citzen Island. There is nothing on the island but an excess of Bars and Night Clubs and although they are fun at times Bermuda needs to find more ways to entertain people and maybe we can see a rise in occupancy levels in the slower months. Food for thought!
I AGREE, VERY BORING ISLAND AND UNTILL IT GETS CHEAPER HERE IT WILL NOT CHANGE.
I just got back from Capri. That island is twice as expensive as Bermuda, and there’s much less to do there, but yet the place was sold out and heaving with tourists. Price is not therefore the limiting factor, it’s the product, or at least the perception of the Bermuda product that has to change both here and overseas.
@ Young
Well said !! There is nothing for a visitor to do after dark ! There are no shows, no discos, nothing !! I could not even imagine coming to such a beautiful place like Bermuda and have nothing to do but sit on the beach !! Until Bermuda realizes that people work hard and want to play hard we will always sit around and play lets spot the tourist !! I am not promoting people to act crazy, im just saying, let people relax for flips sake !!!
The emperor hath no clothes. Who is smart in a declining tide? Everyone was a genius when the tide was rising. Game on!
@San Geoge: I am with you… When will the government and local businessmen see afar before the world knows what its really about. I say cash in now and export to the world and rake in on its cash crops. I’m sure Tourist would love to take home something the was grown or made right here in Bermuda…
when will bermuda (meaning business leaders, gov’t and everyone else) realize that we are not a top pick for wealthy vacationers…we have the resources to aggressively ‘attack’ the backpacker market and utilize more of our guest houses and smaller, affordable accommodations. clearly the wealthy ppl aren’t arriving in droves supporting our less than vibrant tourism industry. when do you stop beating the dead horse? definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result #imjusayin #changeuptheangle
Hail Stuart Hayward the hero. He knew the SDO was nothing but a way for HSBC to get some of their money back out of Tuckers Point and had nothing to do with the hotel or even tourism. Thank You Stuart for all your hard work
The important thing to HSBC was to increase the book value of the property so they could put off writing off the loan as long as possible.
I hear that the Mid Ocean club are in talks to take on Tuckers point golf club (golf course only) to create a 36 hole club with golf members of both clubs merging and along with hotel guests having access to the 36 holes (excluding shared access to the beach facilities). Both clubs will merge and fall under the Mid Ocean name with individual titles for the golf courses. The beach club and resort will remain as Tuckers Point
Interesting if true.
Weed, casinos, expanded development for the sake of jobs will not change our situation long term, unless…… A small island needs a captive market that won’t damage it’s infrastructure, will support its requirements of a higher standard of living (as we have all become accustom to and should want for our next generations) and a community that believes and works together toward both.
Stop allowing your politicians to divide you and see through the rhetoric of short term gains for the few (ubp, plp, oba whoever they may be or may have been) and look toward the benefits of long term goals of the many. Unless we all work together we will ALL fail. A neutral non political party is needed to hold feet to the fire and keep leaders in check and transparent in all dealings and dialogue.
1Bermuda
I think you will find Mid Ocean’s finances are in no better state.
Until Bermuda goes so low then will realize we need tourists foreigners and international business to survive and make a living. We have a lot off humbling to do the hay days and golden days are over . Time to sell off your Louis Vuitton illusions of grandure.
Tucker’s Point is a beautiful but only for the very rich.
It is not a senior citizens island. It is a wonderful place to visit and enjoy the beauty of the island. Our last two trips have been a joy but there are still things we wanted to see and do that a normal vacation of 7 days did not allow time for.
St. George’s is still my favorite part of the island. Affordable accommodations and update of Fort St. Catherine’s beach would bring middle and upper class visitors, and the very rich can stay at Tucker’s Point!!!
The writing-is-on-the-wall…. Bermuda’s tourism of old is done – cooked -finished!!! All you can really count on now are “cruise ship people” who hardly spend any $$$ and the business visitors!!!
If the Island did NOT have IB as a back-up – BDA would be close to becoming a “banana republic”!! Why do you think so many people (Bermudians) have left the Island for greener pastures?? It’s NOT rocket science!!
The reason Bermuda tourism of old is done is because the way it is implemented is old. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel we just need to look at what works. The new cruise ship offers their passengers everything they are looking for in a space far smaller than our island. We keep going around in circles with old ideas & the only new one we keep stoping at is a casino but the Breakaway offers much more than a casino which makes our, “So Much More” slogan look like so much less to the thousands that have visited us on this ship.
@ MAKE MY DAY
Lets wait and see what this new T.A is about.
At 1500 minimum a night… And your scratching your head.. Look at any hotel for tourist it’s averaging 350 a night.. How hard would it be for government to 1 subsidize accommodation on 7 night stays and ten day.. The longer ppl stay the more they spend.. You need a tourism authority to figure dat out? 2 subsidize plane ticket for families/ groups with three or more ppl. A lot of ppl take trips as a group… N that advice was free I should start charging you
What folks seem to be missing is that, when you break it down to basics: IB brings the money, Tourism brings the jobs.
Also, without tourism, plane tickets go WAY up and suddenly Bermuda is that much less attractive to do business in…
As a professional entertainer do you think the government is utilising the talent of Bermuda as proficiently as they can? There are senior visitors who have many fawn memories of the Talbot Brothers & the follies but I don’t hear much about our new talents hence the question.
I do not.
Not yet, anyway.
But they’re making strides.
The auditions to play on the ships while in port, for example, is a great opportunity. Handled well? No. But better than it has been.
Folks that I’ve spoken to in the industry are also somewhat hopeful for next year and the year after.
Personally, what I’d like to see – and I’ve been banging this drum for years – is a subsidy program, like they have with the hotels, in the bars and restaurants all around Bermuda, making it easier for them to hire local (and emphasis on that word) entertainers and for those entertainers to make a living doing it.
I’m all for (legal) foreign entertainment on the island. It helps us grow as artists to have “fresh blood”. But we haven’t had a healthy entertainment industry on the island in decades. We need to build it back up and helping both the employers and the employed to actually MAKE it happen would be a huge step towards that recovery.
(And if you haven’t heard much about ME, as a new talent, then I’m not working hard enough! *grin*)
2nd best golf course on the island (Port Royal is hands down the best). Hope she stays a float and eventualy prospers. Lovely site, agree it is a bit expensive….$23 for a hamburger is somewhat offensive.
Best of luck TP!
I take it you’ve never played mid-ocean…
Pleanty of times, Mid-O is a great course and in great shape constantly, but the track itself ins’t that special, especially the Par 5′s.
Hey, just one man’s opinion.
i have , many times….hands down, Port Royal a better course…members at MO will, acceptably, argue against this and that is fine….Cabrera and Harrington also both passed on those same sentiments(PR being their favorite) comparing the two courses after having played both.
$6 tuna fish sandwich at PR tastes well too.
Solutions:
- Take accountability: understand why we are where we are, discuss it, debate it, dialogue it.
- Remove divisiveness: don’t allow ourselves to be lead by others without being given the right to be heard and look at both sides of an issue openly and without bias.
- Work together: Black, White and all Others as one.
- Create a long term sustainable plan for the island and its people: map a course together with an understanding of what it will take to succeed, not a 50 year plan but a 500+ year plan.
Example:
We have a small island with limited and already strained resources. It would only make sense to minimize strain on these by limiting the exposure. To do this we keep ourselves marketed as an exclusive’ luxury and sustainable tourist destination along with a strong IB sector that enjoys, values and invests in Bermuda.
This is not a slight on the t-shirt tourist but more so we simply can’t afford the effects of maximum numbers. Quality over Quantity can and IMHO should be the overriding goal given our size and infrastructure.
You don’t need a thousand people to have a good time, as they say 3′s a crowd;) Bermuda can be what we make it. There is room for those that enjoy the quieter side of life and room for those that enjoy it a little louder. We just need to stop allowing those that may want to perpetuate hate, fear and divisive tactics and start working together.
Have “THE Conversation”
See AND Understand how divisiveness is used globally to achieve success (through religion, race and class) for the few and how it limits the majority. Remove that and work toward a common goal.
All sorts of thoughts come to mind but none especially pleasant:
Lets start with HSBC’s (yes Him if you know what II mean) wanton destruction of Trimmingham Bros, an iconic landmark that employed two hundred people – it was viable, could have been saved, very Bermudian, but the big shots did not give a damn as they were all gung ho to do the glamor deals like this one. How many other local proprietors got screwed similarly by the Worlds Local Bank (sic, perverse actually). Quite a few actually, a lot of jobs gone because of them, and quite a bit of it was political – not about the business but more about who owned it. Frankly, I hope HSBC get really burned on Tuckers Point because in a lot of mean little ways they have scorched Bermuda, including their own staff.
The hotel might well be viable though I doubt it with only 88 rooms. This whole thing was never about the hotel but about the real estate – the hotel was just chucked into to make all the other units palatable. Now it turns out the whole thing is one more over leveraged white elephant – what is strange is that they must have got their maths very wrong because most of what has been built has been sold on as planned, not too many empty units there. If it is the hotel construction costs that have brought this whole thing crashing down, it strikes me that the directors have been seriously negligent.
The HSBC global juggerknot will go on so don’t shed any tears for them – if we are really lucky they will sell their Bermuda operation – but what about Argus? Have they already made provisions for this money they may not be seeing for a very long time? What other bum loans are they carrying? All this along with their worthless BNTB holdings… I would not be at all astonished if they ended up being merged with a healthier operator or even a bank.
This is the same insitution that has axed 500 local jobs since 2004…
@Spilt milk
Once the T.A is up and running you might just see overall improvement . This requires collaboration from all stake holders.
@Tank Rain
$23 for a hamburger is somewhat offensive. Are you kidding me??
I can get a good 3 course “Steak Dinner” in many restaurants in the USA for that price!!
The “blue-colour” working man is NOT going to go to BDA with his family and pay those prices!!!
a. “blue collar”
b. They used to. But they came to Bermuda to feel fancy. They saved up for the luxury of Bermuda.
We aren’t and never have been and SHOULDN’T be targeting blue collar workers. It sounds elitist, sure, but the reality is, because of the logistics – our size, necessity of high prices, etc. – we HAVE to target white collar and middle and upper middle class, east coast tourists. The simple reason is that blue collar workers cannot afford us. It’s not a matter of lowering our prices. For the most part, those CAN’T go down if we want to continue our standard of life. We need to raise our standards. We need to start being WORTH the prices we have to charge.
Any tourism plan that targets people that simply don’t have money to spend in our stores and restaurants and hotels is a failure from the start.
Now, before folks jump down my throat, I’m not saying that blue collar workers shouldn’t be welcome. Of course they should. But we, quite frankly, cannot afford to focus on them.
We’re Bloomingdale’s, we’re not Walmart.
@Spilt milk
Seeing that you have such ideas put them to use,or are you afraid to invest and try the very same ideas that you speak about?
@Mike Hind
Tks for the “spelling/grammar” reminder. I don’t normally make those mistakes – and I was in a hurry at the time!!
RE: We’re Bloomingdale’s, we’re not Walmart.
Guess who the biggest *Retailer* in the world is?? Hint – NOT Bloomingdale’s!! The “times”… They are a-changin as Bob Dylan used to sing – and I’m afraid that BDA has to change as well or get left behind!!
I grew-up in Somerset in the 50/60’70′s – so I know how tourism USED to be on the Island! There were more Hotels, Cottage colonies and Guest houses than you could shake-a-stick-at in those days!! And the Island had over 500,000+ air arrivals (heads-in-beds) back in the 60/70/80′s as well!!
Bermuda tourism seriously shot itself in-the-foot in 1981 when the UBP Gov’t allowed the BIU to have an Island-wide strike that seriously affected the *Tourism Product* (in general) plus BDA’s reputation and it has been a slow progression downwards since then!!
How to “fix it” is anyone’s guess, especially in these difficult economic times – that the USA is currently experiencing (most of the tourists used to come from the USA’s eastern seaboard). Plus there is a lot more “competition” these days from many other destinations – including the Cruise Ship business!!
If I could wave a *Magic Wand* and get the Island’s tourism product back-on-track – then I would be worth a lot of $$$!!!
Chow!!
@Mike Hind
Tks for the “spelling/grammar” reminder. I don’t normally make those mistakes – and I was in a hurry at the time!!
RE: We’re Bloomingdale’s, we’re not Walmart.
Guess who the biggest *Retailer* in the world is?? Hint – NOT Bloomingdale’s!! The “times”… They are a-changin as Bob Dylan used to sing – and I’m afraid that BDA has to change as well or get left behind!!
I grew-up in Somerset in the 50/60’70′s – so I know how tourism USED to be on the Island! There were more Hotels, Cottage colonies and Guest houses than you could shake-a-stick-at in those days!! And the Island had over 500,000+ air arrivals (heads-in-beds) back in the 60/70/80′s as well!!
Bermuda tourism seriously shot itself in-the-foot in 1981 when the UBP Gov’t allowed the BIU to have an Island-wide strike that seriously affected the *Tourism Product* (in general) plus BDA’s reputation and it has been a slow progression downwards since then!!
How to “fix it” is anyone’s guess, especially in these difficult economic times – that the USA is currently experiencing (most of the tourists used to come from the USA’s eastern seaboard). Plus there is a lot more “competition” these days from many other destinations – including the Cruise Ship business!!
If I could wave a *Magic Wand* and get the Island’s tourism product back-on-track – then I would be worth a lot of $$$!!!
PS: How did you manage to place the “photo avatar” on your comment??
Chow!!
@Scammed (September 12, 2013 at 5:40 pm), and
@Hotmama (September 12, 2013 at 10:03 pm)
Thanks for the kind personal remarks.
The credit must be shared with the countless volunteers and supporters of BEST who give teeth to our success as a watchdog.
The TP story is far from over: The SDO gave them permission to carve up acres of prime amenity land into lots for houses and condos. They just got final approval — we are appealing that decision — and now that TP has changed their name to Tucker’s Point Real Estate it seems that all they wanted all along was to sell the real estate, not boost tourism.