Grand Turk, Providenciales, Water Cay, West Caicos, and Ambergris Cay all receiving new or upgraded hotel and resort facilities
New York City, New York (June 1, 2004) - Visitors to the Turks and Caicos will soon enjoy more variety, more luxury, and more flight choices than ever before. Airlines, resident hotels, water sports operators, spas, cruise lines, and property developers are investing more than a billion dollars into this chain of more than 40 islands. With only eight inhabited islands - Grand Turk, Providenciales, North Caicos, Middle Caicos, South Caicos, Salt Cay, Pine Cay, and Parrot Cay - the Turks and Caicos have won awards for their beauty, pristine environment, and elegant hotels.
A number of tourism developments are in negotiation or underway for Grand Turk, capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
With construction of the state-of-the-art International JAGS McCartney Airport, the country now boasts non-stop flights from Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, New York, Charlotte, and Miami.
With increased air access, negotiations have begun with some international boutique hotel developers, and development agreements are in place for a condominium resort. The Cacique Beach Club will include 72 luxury suites, doubling the existing room quota on Grand Turk.
Carnival Cruise Lines is investing more than $50 million to build a cruise ship terminal on the southern end of Grand Turk. The project is expected to attract about 350,000 annual passengers to the historic island and is being regarded as a catalyst for revitalization of the capital island.
After extensive refurbishment the new Pillory Beach Resort has opened on Grand Turk and features wooden decking, a pool, bar, restaurant, and elegant apartments overlooking Pillory Beach.
Hotel and resort expansions, refurbishments, and developments are also underway on the island of Providenciales, which according to Albert (Butch) Clare, chairman of the Tourism Board, "have highlighted the strength of the TCI’s tourism economy on an unprecedented scale."
Aman Resorts is investing $25 million to build Amanyara, its first Caribbean resort. Planned for Northwest Point, Amanyara will comprise 40 luxury suites, 34 villas, and a recording studio. The funding partnership behind the development includes music producer Nile Rodgers, who is hoping the resort and top-of-the-line recording studio will attract many artists who want the luxury of recording in beautiful surroundings.
The five-star Grace Bay Club has committed more than $15 million to add a further 38 suites and build four new buildings, two of which are nearly complete. Scheduled for completion in winter 2004/05, the property extension replaces the current Serenity Spa with a new spa, which includes five treatment rooms, a fitness facility, a dramatic on-the-beach swimming pool, and a second restaurant. In addition, the hotel lobby and reception areas have been refurbished, and all rooms have been refreshed with new color schemes and updated amenities, including Egyptian cotton linens, featherbeds, DVD players, flat-screen TVs, CD players, and new Aveda toiletries. The resort’s acclaimed Anacaona restaurant has renovated its decor, updated its food and beverage menus, and introduced new dishes, flatware, and glassware. In addition, the Lounge at Grace Bay Club has been built on the beach and features a tapas menu, exciting martini menu, and New World music.
Coral Gardens is investing just under $5 million in enhancements, including a 24-room extension in the old-Bermudan-style of architecture, a fitness facility, and meeting suite. The resort has also introduced new services, including complimentary wireless Internet access and terminal, cold towel service on the beach, Classic Mercedes VIP pick up and tour service, complimentary CD and DVD service, grocery shopping service, and a new Gourmet Tide dinner service. Manager Andre Neiderhauser describes the Gourmet Tide dining experience as "combining the easy and serene atmosphere of having dinner with your feet in the sand and the sound of the ocean beside you, with ingredients and cooking methods of the past, delivered in modern style."
Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort and Spa, one of Sandal’s best family all-inclusive properties, has committed $30 million to expand the resort under an Italian Village theme, including an additional 100 rooms. Club Med Turkoise is also spending $15 million to refurbish the popular resort.
Nearing completion is the Palms Grand Resort and Spa, whose 72 condominium units have already sold out. Three new condominium resorts called Tuscany, the Regency Grand, and the $60-million Verandah are being developed and will soon offer more premium accommodation. Several other development agreements have also been signed, including the construction of a $150-million condo hotel on the site of the former Allegro Hotel.
Developments are also planned for some previously uninhabited islands, including the signing of a $200-million agreement on the private island of Water Cay. This project complements others underway for the uninhabited islands of West Caicos and Ambergris Cay, and the well-established and highly successful private island resorts on Pine Cay and Parrot Cay.
Not to be outdone by property developments, a number of businesses have expanded and upgraded their services and product lines as well.
With Spa Tropique’s reputation for incorporating local ingredients into its extensive range of treatments, the spa has created a new line of Body Tropique products. The Turks Island Salt Glow is a body exfoliator that uses salt from the Salt Cay ponds blended and ground with mineral salts, Epson salt, and essential oils. The Beach Time Foot Scrub blends Salt Cay salt with a touch of sand from Grace Bay beach along with a few other ingredients. These uniquely TCI products make a great memento to take home and can be purchased at all Spa Tropique locations.
On Salt Cay, the popular Island Thyme Bistro has developed an Internet café and a small gift shop. Along with weekly Hermit Crab Races held in season, the tiny and popular Bistro has updated its menu and added several new concoctions to its list of beverages.
A number of developments have occurred on the dive scene as well.
Dive Provo has centralized its operations in the heart of Grace Bay at the conveniently located Ports of Call Shopping Centre, where divers can register for lessons or excursions. Scuba instruction takes place in the Comfort Suites pool opposite the store. The dive shop uses two marinas to provide divers with the best conditions for diving and the greatest variety of sites. Divers are picked up by bus and taken to their boat at either Turtle Cove Marina for trips along Provo’s north shore or to the Caicos Marina and Boatyard for dives out to West Caicos and French Cay. Dive Provo has also added a wider variety of snorkeling excursions.
Additionally, Flamingo Divers, Ltd. has been upgraded to a PADI 5 Star Gold Palm Instructor Development Center, the first on Providenciales. With the purchase of a 32-foot Island Hopper, Salt Cay Divers has created a series of new dive packages with trips to Grand Turk, Salt Cay, and South Caicos. And the newly established South Caicos Divers has teamed up with the South Caicos lodge to offer divers a chance to explore the award-winning dive sites that surround this island.
"The small- and large-scale investment by airlines, property owners, developers, private businesses, investors and government is ensuring that the Turks and Caicos Islands can maintain and enhance its position as a high-end destination offering quality without compromising our Beautiful by Nature environment," says Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism and Development, Hon. Dr. Michael Misick "The Aman Resort, in particular, will reinforce the Turks and Caicos Islands’ reputation as the leading luxury resort destination in the Caribbean."
For more information on the Turks and Caicos Islands call 1-800-241-0824.
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