Tourism Minister Skerritt: Groundbreaking for Hyatt St. Kitts, years of ongoing innovation, planning and collaboration

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JUNE 4TH 2013 (CUOPM) – The groundbreaking for the multi-million dollar Hyatt St. Kitts is the result of years of ongoing innovation, planning and collaboration, with all parties committed to achieving the highest quality commercial development with strong economic and cultural linkages into the wider St Kitts and Nevis community.

Speaking at the ceremony on Monday, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Sen. the Hon. Richard “Ricky” Skerritt, said Range, Christophe Harbour and Park Hyatt “have found an enthusiastic and hard working group of partners who will deliver this project to expected standards, and to the benefit of hotel guests and all local stakeholders.”

He pointed out that the innovative funding idea was presented to the Federal Cabinet as a measure to drive a major hotel development in the heat of the global recession over two years ago, at a time when traditional debt and equity funding sources for such resort projects had already dried up.

“We could see no other way to raise the large investment necessary to build such a world class resort as this Park Hyatt. I am also grateful to the decision-makers at Hyatt Corporation for agreeing with us that St. Kitts should be the location of their first such leisure resort in the Americas. I look forward with great anticipation to the successful completion of the construction in another two years or so,” said Minister Skerritt.

He used the opportunity to congratulate Mohammed Asaria and Munaf Ali of Range Developments and their various sales and construction associates, who are showing another tangible step today that they will deliver on their promise to start building this resort at the earliest opportunity.

“I also want to publicly thank His Excellency Paul Bromwell, British High Commissioner to the Eastern Caribbean, who was the gentleman who actually introduced me to Range Developments as a young British Company that was interested in pursuing resort activity in the Caribbean. I thank Buddy Darby and his colleagues at Kiawah and Christophe Harbour, especially Phil Keb, who followed through speedily and creatively on my recommendation of Range as a possible hotel development partner for them at Christophe Harbour,” said the Minister of Tourism.

“I must also thank our Prime Minister who believed in the Christophe Harbour vision and the Park Hyatt proposal from the very beginning, along with my Cabinet colleagues who had the wisdom to approve the special pioneering arrangement for equity investments in this resort to qualify under the Citizenship by Investment Programme,” said Minister Skerritt.