In the news today:
Name of Almond owner ‘soon’ – http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/name-of-almond-owner-soon/

@Victor

Thanks for your comment. The debate is a divided one but what we know is that given the importance of tourism to the national economy government MUST play a leadership role. The question then becomes: is the private sector doing enough?

Freundel is a big F….C…T!! He needs to get the hell out his office and see what’s happening! His stupidity is congenital. Is the typical F….. Bajan stubborn old man!! F.YOU!!

Thanx to Wifredo for bringing this blog back in play by his/her very timely post.

I see in yesterday’s Barbados Today that Butch has a deal to “operate and manage a rebuilt Almond under the Beaches brand, with an option to purchase the property at a future date”.

First observation is how was the fledgling Barbados Today able to get the “scoop” over the long established Nation and Advocate.

Was the story published on the basis of an official government communique or press release, or from leaked documents? Given that I have seen nothing in either of the Nation of Advocate (may have missed something), I am guessing that it was a leak. Kudos to Barbados Today for running the story.

Why did it take a year and a half to get this ball rolling?

There can be no doubt that “Barbados stands to gain exposure as a result of the marketing and promotional might of the Sandal (Beaches) brand; just as has Jamaica, Bahamas, Antigua, Turks and Caicos, St Lucia, and now Grenada. The same full page ad that is on the back page of the Travel section in today’s Toronto Star for Sandals LaSource resort in Grenada, has been running weekly for a couple of months now – and it does not open until December 2013. (There has been virtually no advertising for Barbados properties in Toronto papers for at least six months)

On the surface It sounds like it has to be a sweet deal for Butch – Barbados taxpayers borrow $500 million from China to buy the property from N&M, bulldoze the existing buildings, and build a 426 room facility (including 6 or 7 restaurants).

Butch has managed his risk by having the facility built by the taxpayers (via China loan), and has an option to buy the property – if all goes well. If not, he can walk away – at some future date stipulated in the agreement.

David said “Of the myriad of issues which this government continues to wrestle -thrown up by the global economy – ordinary citizens have the capacity to understand that this is a difficult time to govern. Surely one way the Stuart government can allay the anxiety of citizens is to feed them relevant information. A reasonable assumption must be that disseminating information to the population is a prerequisite of a democracy.”

Since the taxpayers will be on the hook for the $500 million loan, I assume the government will, in the interest of transparency and full disclosure, publish the full details of the agreement with Butch when it is finalized in “a month”.

As an aside, DD came across an April 2012 article at http://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/archives/04/08/butch-stewart-eying-barbados-almond-beach-village/ which the BU family may find interesting. It is a reprint of an interview with Butch Stewart published by the Nation on April 7, 2012. An interesting discussion in which Stewart talks about the Almond property and his previous experience with Paradise Beach.

When the interviewer said

“The one apprehension we have heard so far with respect to your taking over the property is that you would want to have a private beach. In fact, we understand that that was the deal breaker last time you were pursuing a major investment in Barbados.”

Stewart replied; “ First of all, that is rumour. Nothing could be further from the truth. I mean we operate in Antigua; the beach is not private; St Lucia is not private; the Bahamas is not private; Jamaica is not private. So nothing could be further from the truth.
No, I think what happened is that we just got mixed up with bureaucracy and couldn’t make any progress; and it was also earlier times and more primitive times for Sandals Resorts. If we had had probably better professional help, it would have been [workable].
We are a young company, 30 years old this year – but absolutely nothing like a private beach.
That’s all nonsense!”

Interviewer “But at the end of the day, you got fed up with the Paradise project – now Four Seasons – and you left. Can you assure Barbadians that if given the opportunity to take over Almond you would be in it for the long haul?”

Stewart: “(Chuckle) Take a look at all the places that we are at. Any island that Sandals is in, does well. Every island! And we go in, we dig our holes, we make our nest, we develop the properties”.

Finally, DD is curious where how the 112,684 additional visitors was calculated.

The hotel/resort will have 426 large family rooms with on average six persons per room – Mom and Dad and four kids, or three swinging couples, or same sex people.

Typically an all-inclusive stay is for 7 days.

With 426 rooms and 50 weeks to rent (2 weeks down time for annual maintenance) the hotel would have 21,300 room weeks to fill.

By my rough amateur calculations, in order to have 112,684 visitors staying at the resort for 7 days would require 5.3 persons in every room for each of the 50 weeks. With 6 persons to a room it would require each room to be occupied 88% of the time.

It seems to me that a more likely scenario would see an average 4 persons to each room 85% of the time – and that would result in 72,420 visitors.

That is better than zero visitors at Heywoods which will be the case for the three years it will take to get it up and running, but a long way (35%) off 112,684.

DD would appreciate readers with more knowledge of the tourism business to check the assumptions and the math; and let me know where I am incorrect or missing something

Yes, I read the story on BT. Is the property in such bad shape that it has to be knocked down? But there again, this may be the best thing, start new like the Hilton. I don’t trust Butch Stewart though when it comes to doing things in Barbados! The only thing I do not understand is why would a government agree up front not to go to tender for this project. Bet your bottom dollar that Jada will get the contract!

@ Prodigal Son | September 13, 2013 at 12:50 PM

This is just another piece of bullshit aka spin or propaganda to make it look as if this administration is doing something.

Jada can’t even build a proper pigpen far less a hotel to attract mostly UK visitors who are keeping far away from places likes Barbados that have become havens for hustlers, pimps, drug pushers and environmental terrorists.
Just take a look of the housing and commercial building project and ask yourself if you are not seeing concrete ovens in an already tropical setting. The Coverly and Valerie projects are proof positive of what those construction frauds are capable of. This outfit of bilkers and kickback conmen has no imagination for constructing a modern hotel property with a sustainable living type accommodation based on renewable energy and other green or ecologically-friendly technologies that modern and future visitors will be expecting.

The main issue here is one of financing. Let’s get real and ask the question from whom and when would a country with already junk bond status, a massive debt burden in excess of $10 billion (excluding the UWI, Al Barrack), a poorly performing economy bereft of natural resources to be exploited and saddled with a political administration in whom no or very little investor confidence resides would be able to attract thousands of millions in loans and FDI to finance the following projects:

As stimulus package in excess of $150 million (M) for road rehabilitation.

A sugar processing factory based on a revitalized cane sugar industry costing in the region $500 M.
A WTE plant costing in the region nof another $500 M.
A wave to energy plant costing millions to construct and bring into being.
A cruise ship terminal and a Pier head marina.
A brand new hospital costing in excess of $1billion but to operate with less that $120 M on an annual basis.

And now the purchase of Almond for $ 106 M and another $500 M to knockdown and build back.

Now who is this administration trying to fool?
Almond will end up as just another casualty like the Four Seasons project and the other 30 odd hotel properties that have bitten the dust in the last 5 years representing the collateral damage of a dying tourism industry called Brand Barbados. Unless this country cleans up its act and focus on the real issues and challenges facing Barbados’ tourism like harassment of many kinds from sexual to verbal and physical from Bridgetown to Oistins, lack of visitor attractions, unsightly garbage and filth that could be a danger to public health, run down accommodation, an overgrown with bush countryside that was once but no longer a sight for sore eyes to be hold and poor value for money right across the tourism landscape those people looking for a quick turnaround would just be spinning top in mud.

Butch has the brand and the marketing thrust to add value to the Barbados product.