Successful Meetings - January 2008 - (Page 54)

Resort Meetings > Seeing is Believing president of the ever-expanding Sandals Hotels & Resorts, and Jamaica Tourist Board’s (JTB) new chairman. “It was a lush, wondrous place that was the perfect setting for reward and romance—and it still is.” James Bond, moving suavely through Jamaica and the Bahamas (and also Bermuda) in pursuit of monomaniacal supervillains, locked in images of their sun-soaked resorts and azure waters for decades to come. Even so, there have been many changes in the islands since Bond battled SPECTRE; these include the fantasy-themed Atlantis Resort, which debuted in 1998 on Bahamas’ Paradise Island—actually within sight of the original Bond hotel, Nassau’s Hilton British Colonial. Last year, Atlantis debuted two new, over-the-top expansions: The Cove and The Reef, further raising the bar on regional resort development. In Jamaica, the Ritz-Carlton, Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hasll, is credited with having breathed new life into Jamaica’s Montego Bay, and most new resort development through the Caribbean now aims at the luxury level and is augmented by condo investment. “Jamaica is undergoing a period of extensive growth and development,” says Marcia Bullock, JTB’s regional director—groups & conventions. “Approximately 5,000 additional rooms are expected to be added by 2010, and nearly 300,000 square feet of meeting space will be added with the construction of the Montego Bay Convention Center. The destination also has a heightened focus on luxury offerings, with plans for refurbishment of existing upscale offerings and construction of new resorts. Furthermore, the airports in Montego Bay and Kingston are undergoing renovation and expansion, and continue to experience a growth in service by legacy carriers.” Even classic Caribbean properties are getting spruced up, as LXR Hotels & Resorts nears $900-million-worth of renovations on some of the region’s top resorts, including a reintroduction of Jamaica’s Rose Hall Resort & Country Club. “We believe we are poised to become the island’s preferred resort,” says Mark Komine, LXR’s executive vice airport and has four terrific golf courses and fine beaches, including Revolcadero Beach and nearby Puerto Marques.” Regarding Elvis, however, Rush regrets, “We find that travelers don’t specifically associate Elvis with Acapulco anymore, but they do associate the destination with a sense of old glamour from the influx of ‘A-List’ Hollywood celebrities in the 1960s. That sense of renowned sophistication and stylish tourism offerings are still a draw for travelers to Acapulco, as they were for the Hollywood celebrities in the 1960s.” In lieu of Elvis memories, today’s offering is the Jaguar Route, which invites tourists to journey along two significant archaeological zones to learn about the State of Guerrero’s history, from pre-Columbian to the conquest. In the meantime, visitors can also witness the cliff divers of La Quebrada, who continue to practice their craft daily. BONDING IN THE CARIBBEAN “Ian Fleming portrayed the Caribbean, and Jamaica in particular, as exotic and sophisticated,” notes John Lynch, executive vice

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - January 2008

Successful Meetings - January 2008 Contents Editor's Note Associations Research Events Suppliers Associations On the Record Associations Suppliers Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Management Matters Meeting the Law Personal Success Mouth for Sale Food & Beverage Professional Development On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Veggie Power Tennis, Anyone? Seeing is Believing The Wild Green Yonder Game On Places & Spaces Galveston & Texas Beaches Greater Seattle Singapore Gurus

Successful Meetings - January 2008

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