News

Beaches’ New Years Tourism Gift

Published

9 years ago

January 9, 2015

Beaches Turks and Caicos has proclaimed its recently concluded Travel Agent Megafams programme as its most successful ever with over 2,720 of North America’s top travel agents visiting the country, most for the first time.

The much-celebrated orientation programme saw agents jet into Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands from key travel gateways throughout the vital North American region via 20 specially-chartered airplanes, including six wide bodied jets, at a cost of over US$5 million to the resort company.

Sandals Resorts International Chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart commented, “The Travel Agent Megafams is the single biggest trade programme ever seen in the Turks and Caicos Islands and this latest campaign has generated unprecedented levels of the exposure for Providenciales and the country as a whole. It is a huge exercise and once you factor in the cost of chartering the aircraft, the taxis, food and beverage, entertainment and everything else, it’s a substantial investment but the long term benefits to the destination are immeasurable.”

“The quality of the agents we bought down to Provo was of paramount importance. They were the best of the best; each highly qualified and carefully veted beforehand and in many cases travel hundreds of miles to the airport from the surrounding cities and states to attend. These individuals possess the ability to have a game-changing effect on the TCI tourism industry and bringing them here and giving them the chance to experience up close and personal what the Turks and Caicos has to offer makes all the difference in the world.”

As many as 85% of the visiting travel agents experienced the TCI for the first time with the Beaches Turks and Caicos team rolling out the ‘red carpet’ treatment with resort tours, island-wide excursions, catamaran tours as well as plenty of free time to explore the country all featuring in the agents’ exciting three day itinerary. In addition, each travel agent was required to attend a four-hour training course arming them with the education they need to successfully sell the destination once they reach home.

Jessica Lang from Travel Planners International in Florida commented, “It was a pleasure to experience Turks & Caicos for the very first time in the great care of Sandals. My stay at the Beaches Resort exceeded my expectations. It was a true treat for my soul to be surrounded by so much beauty, appetizing cuisine, and fun filled activities. Working for a large host agency, I love helping our travel agents sell not only more travel, but quality travel, and the Beaches Resort at Turks & Caicos is guaranteed to surpass the expectations, as it did for me.”

Stewart also paid tribute to the Turks and Caicos Government who contributed US$500k to the programme under a previous agreement, “the Travel Agent Megafams are not just about our resort, it’s about the Turks and Caicos Islands as a destination and I publically applaud the TCI Government for their role in ensuring the programme was both feasible and memorable. The majority of those agents who attended had never been to the TCI before so it’s easy to see the impact that this has had in the North American agent community.”

Travel agents visited from 19 key US and Canadian hubs throughout North America including Boston, New York, Newark, Rochester, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, Montreal, Cleveland, Atlanta, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, Miami, Charlotte and Westchester.

The island’s taxi drivers played an instrumental part in what is usually a slow period on the TCI tourism calendar and did a remarkable job transferring the groups to and from the airport and, in some case, providing island-wide orientation trips for the agents.

“I have received a multitude of the most tremendous messages and letters from agents commenting on everything from the food they ate and the service of resort staff right through to the taxi drivers and the immigration department, who did a marvellous job of fast tracking them through the airport. The word of mouth being generating is simply priceless and I take my hat off to His Excellency Governor Beckingham, Premier Ewing and his team, the opposition leader Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, the great local hoteliers, the people of the TCI and everyone else who played a part in the programme’s success. Special mention must also go to Beaches Managing Director Don Dagenais and his resort team who blew them away; we are already reaping the benefits of the programme and plan to do more in the future,” Stewart concluded.

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Caribbean News

USA Caribbean Investment Forum: Partnering for Sustained Development in the Caribbean 2023 Event Recap

Published

1 day ago

September 27, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

The USA Caribbean Investment Forum took place over two days last week at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. The event, hosted by the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) in partnership with representatives of the CARICOM Consular Corps (namely, the Consulates General of Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Antigua & Barbuda), brought together government officials, investment promotion agencies, entrepreneurs, and business leaders from the Caribbean diaspora to connect, engage in thoughtful discussions, and explore investment opportunities throughout the Caribbean.

Fostering International Collaboration

The event featured distinguished speakers and representatives from both the US and Caribbean governments. Consuls General Mr. Mackie Holder (Barbados), Mr. Jerome Andre Laveau (Trinidad & Tobago), and Mr. Rondy McIntosh (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) along with Jeanette Moy, Commissioner of the NYS Office of General Services, Edward Mermelstein, NYC Commissioner of International Affairs, and Molly Bauer, Industry Development Associate from the NY Governor’s Office, shed light on the initiatives that New York City, which is home to so many Caribbean Diaspora, is implementing to support economic collaboration between the regions.

Engaging with Global Leaders

Hon. Kenneth Bryan, Minister for Tourism & Ports, Cayman Islands, and Chair of Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and Hon. E. Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Trade and Investment, Turks and Caicos Islands delivered insights via keynote speeches and held candid discussions during panel and Q&A sessions. The event served as a unique opportunity to communicate in an open and honest forum with two esteemed leaders from the Caribbean about investing in the region.

Promoting Investment Opportunities

CAIPA welcomed representatives from Invest Barbados, Invest Dominica, Grenada Investment Development Corporation (GIDC), InvesTT (Trinidad and Tobago), Invest Turks and Caicos, St. Kitts Investment Promotion Agency (SKIPA), Invest St. Lucia, Invest St. Vincent & the Grenadines, the Bahamas Investment Authority, the Curacao Investment and Export Promotion Agency (CINEX), and the Sint Maarten Ministry of Tourism, Economy, Transport and Telecommunications, to discuss various opportunities for investment in their respective countries and how their agencies support and facilitate potential investors.

Hearing Private Sector Success Stories

Private sector companies including the St. James School of Medicine, Century21 Guyana, Ethniv, and Homestrings joined the forum to discuss their current active projects in the Caribbean. They detailed how they’ve worked with local governments and institutions to successfully launch and operate their businesses in the Caribbean, along with the potential opportunities for continued growth.

Understanding How Caribbean Financial Institutions Facilitate Investment

The Forum brought together key representatives from Caribbean financial and economic development institutions: IDB Lab (Ms. Magdalena Coronel, Chief Investment Officer), the National Commercial Bank Jamaica LTD (Mr. Jeffrey Brown, Head, Loans Structuring and Syndications), USAID (Mr. Mervyn Farroe, USAID representative for the Eastern and Southern Caribbean), and the Caribbean Development Bank (Ms. Lisa Harding, Private Sector Development Specialist) to detail how these organizations facilitate and support private investment in the Caribbean.

Forging Connections

Attendees had the opportunity to meet directly with CAIPA member countries during business meetings. These one-on-one conversations were valuable opportunities to speak directly with key stakeholders in order to advance projects and forge direct relationships.

The inaugural USA Caribbean Investment Forum was a great success due to the collaboration and engagement from individuals representing a wide range of sectors, organizations, and countries – all united under the goal of driving economic growth in the Caribbean and taking advantage of the enormous opportunities available in the region. CAIPA and the representatives of the CARICOM Consular Corps are proud to have facilitated these conversations and supported deepening of relationships with key stakeholders throughout the US and the Caribbean. We look forward to our next event, which will be held on 6-8 March in Miami (Caribbean Logistics Investment Conference 2024) – focused on attracting investments into logistics and transportation by sea and air as well as e-commerce logistics and industrial logistics parks throughout the Caribbean. Stay tuned for more details!If you or anyone you know is interested in joining the CAIPA mailing list, please visit: https://www.investincaribbean.org/news-center/sign-up-for-our-newsletter to sign up for our newsletter.

News

Babies exposed to Fentanyl at daycare, one dead and Mayor expresses outrage

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#USA, September 26, 2023 – A New York woman was arrested for murder following the death of a 1-year-old boy at her daycare centre which authorities say was also being used to store illicit drugs. Grei Mendez was charged with one of her tenants, a male, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, over the shocking incident.

One-year-old Nicholas Dominici died of a suspected fentanyl overdose after being exposed to the drug in the daycare. In an update from the NYPD via Facebook live, we learned a kilo of fentanyl had been sitting in the same place where the children napped; three other babies reportedly had to be revived with a fentanyl antidote Narcan.

They were all two years old or younger.

Eric Adams, New York City Mayor, was enraged by the incident. He described it as ‘total madness.’

“Less than the size of a fingernail can kill an adult, so imagine what it would do to a child, you are irresponsible as an adult if you have this inside your home,” he said, “this is probably one of the worst days I’ve had walking into the Bronx– sitting down with those parents– what do you even say?”

Joe Kenny, Chief Detective on the case, revealed that around 2:41 on September 15, they responded to calls of three unconscious children at the licensed daycare centre. Emergency Medical personnel quickly recognized the symptoms and administered the antidote, saving two lives. Only two hours earlier, a mother had picked up the fourth child, who began to exhibit symptoms at home. He was administered Narcan as well.

All the children had fentanyl in their systems.

The accused are facing charges of murder, attempted murder and depraved indifference.

News

TWO SEXUAL Assault Cases begin in Providenciales Supreme Court

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Reporter

#TurksandCaicos, September 26, 2023 – On Monday 25th September 2023 in the Providenciales Supreme Court before her Ladyship Ms. Tanya Lobban Jackson and a seven member Jury to be empaneled, there are TWO sexual assault/rape cases are listed to commence.