February 2003 will mark the fruition of a new era in The Bahamas with the signature branding of the Our Lucaya Beach and Golf Resort to two of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.’s largest brand names.
The largest resort in Grand Bahama will soon be recognized as the Westin at Our Lucaya Beach and Golf Resort and the Sheraton at Our Lucaya Beach and Golf Resort.
Starwood, the parent company of a collection of hotels throughout the world, signed a management contract to operate the 372-acre, 1270-room multi-million dollar resort.
Prime Minister Perry Christie, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, Minister of Financial Services and Investment Allyson Maynard Gibson, Starwood, Hutchison and Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) executives were in the second city Saturday to make the announcement.
The news came via a media briefing at Our Lucaya in the Little Harbour Cay Room, Manor House.
The move is neither a merger or take over, said David Milus, Starwood Vice President of Transitions, but a “transition and conversion.
“It’s an existing resort that has hired a management company and a brand to transition the property from an independent resort to a branded resort,” he explained.
There is expected to be some division of responsibilities among the management team for the different complexes, however, under one management group.
Our Lucaya is owned by the Hutchison Whampoa Group and opened by Hutchison Lucaya Limited, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, some two years ago.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. owns, manages and franchises over 750 hotels in 80 countries and employs 110,000.
In 90 days, Our Lucaya will be added to the almost 100 resort family and is expected to strengthen Starwood’s presence in the Caribbean.
The Reef Village will be flagged a Sheraton and Breakers Cay and Lighthouse Point are to be flagged a Westin.
“It’s a great match with the Starwood collection of hotels. We’ve long targeted growth in this area and this is certainly a wonderful place to be,” said Sue Brush, Westin Senior Vice President.
Revealing how excited Starwood was when they were selected to become a part of Our Lucaya, the hotel executive is confident that Starwood’s frequency and loyalty programme, the “Starwood Preferred Guest,” will help attract even more guests to Our Lucaya Beach and Golf Resort.
To date, it has four million members and is rated the top programme in the world.
The other four brands under the Starwood umbrella are Four Points Sheraton, St. Regis Hotels, The Luxury Collection and W Hotels.
Four Points Sheraton, a mid scale full-service brand and one of the youngest in the family, founded in 1995 and has 132 hotels under its flag.
St. Regis Hotels is a group of 10 luxury hotels while The Luxury Collection is a group of 26 historic and museum hotels, the majority of which are in Europe.
W Hotels, is Starwood�s youngest and considered the most “hip” brand. Westin Hotels and Resorts is Starwood�s oldest brand which was founded in 1930 and has 113 hotels worldwide with upscale quality. The Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood’s largest and most powerful brand with 400 hotels worldwide.
These hotels are complimented with the timeshare division brand called Starwood Vacation Ownership based in Orlando.
Hutchison Lucaya Limited Jon Markoulis pointed out that Starwood is very important player in tourism and will take the resort to the next level.
Managing a property in The Bahamas will be a first for the Starwood Group.
GBPA Chairman Edward St. George commented that the hotel has come a long way.
The Reef Village which once was the Holiday Inn and the Lighthouse Point formerly known as the Lucayan Beach Hotel, St. George commented that hotels had developed into “a shabby group of derelict properties.”
Noting that it was only the start of the GBPA and Starwood’s relationship, adding that they would like to see a St. Regis Hotel, timeshare development and much more development here in the future.
Tourism Minister Wilchcombe declared that the occasion represents the beginning of an era of transformation.
In fact, when he and a delegation travelled to Vancouver several months ago to explore the question of branding and a casino operator, Minister Wilchcombe said it was uncertain where they were.
“To see this take place and to see this transformation now begin, I am extremely delighted,” he said.
Prime Minister Christie officially welcomed the Starwood Group to The Bahamas and declared that the decision to come here was a wise one.
“God has not made many places like The Bahamas where you can stand in a hotel room at a press conference look out the window and see the beautiful array of colours in the seas and see a beach,” the Prime Minister boasted.
Remarking that one of fastest growing industries in the United States of America is the leisure industry, the nation�s chief executive said there could not be a better place in The Bahamas than Grand Bahama to attract people for leisure activity.
The catch, he says, is that the destination must be created into a romantic, exotic and entertaining one and those who are marketing this island must believe it.
In spite of all its beauty and mesmerizing surroundings, Prime Minister Christie pointed out that the people still remain the most outstanding asset.
By Lededra Ferguson, The Freeport News
