Disney planning Hawaiian resort

The parks and resort arm of The Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday it is planning to build an 800–unit themed resort on 21 acres of oceanfront land it is acquiring at Ko Olina Resort on the island of Oahu.

The company paid $143 million for the land. The resort is set to begin construction next year and open in 2011. It is expected to employ about 1,000 people when open.

The resort is in design without a theme and has not yet been named. However, in ceremonies at Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle’s office for the announcement, Disney included characters from the 2002 Hawaiian–themed Disney animated feature “Lilo and Stitch,” which was set in Hawaii.

The resort will include an as–yet undetermined mix of hotel rooms and time–share units to be sold through its Orlando-based Disney Vacation Club subsidiary. The company’s president, Jim Lewis, has indicated the mix will be at least 50 percent time–share units. This will be Disney's third stand alone resort and its first outside Florida to mix hotel and time share properties. Disney Vacation Club operates eight resorts, including properties in both Hilton Head, S.C. and Vero Beach, with more than 350,000 individual members.

Parks and Resorts President Jay Rasulo says Disney chose Hawaii because it is a top choice for Disney Vacation Club members, and because of its proximity to the Asian market. He described Hawaii as the crossroads of Asia.

In a February speech to The Walt Disney Investor Conference in Orlando, Rasulo announced that China is a top priority for the company, noting that the number of Chinese who will take trips outside of their country is projected to grow to 100 million tourists by 2015.

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Jamaican Honeymoon Resorts

Jamaica is the ultimate honeymoon destination for honeymooners. True to its name, Jamaican Honeymoon resorts offer pure bliss with full spa facilities and professional massages, amidst swaying trees and golden sandy beaches, typical of resort destinations. For the sports enthusiasts, there are squash, racquetball and tennis courts built just for them.

Of course, the not–to–be–missed extraordinary gourmet dining offers superb Jamaican cuisine across all Jamaican Honeymoon destinations. Amongst the popular and famous resorts would be the Coyaba Beach Resort and Club, Sans Souci Resort and Spa and The Ritz-Carlton Golf and Spa Resort.

Outdoor activities, both on land and in the water, are also provided by most Jamaica honeymoon resorts. These would include snorkeling, scuba diving, water skiing, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, golfing and beach ball games. Also, sun and sports lovers can participate in volleyball competitions, shuffleboard tournaments, poolside games as well as resort–organized beach parties.

However, if the both of you opt to explore the local delights that Jamaica has to offer, then you can explore the coastal areas and lush jungles which are home to many remaining mansions, thriving plantations and other ruins. Most of these mansions have been redecorated as inns with additional facilities of golf courses and pristine beaches of sunbather’s favorite spots.

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The Grenadine Islands

The Grenadines are located in the Windward Islands at the lower end of the Caribbean chain and they are situated between Grenada 75 miles (120 km) to the south, St. Lucia 24 miles (43 km) to the north and Barbados 150 miles (160 km) to the east. They are comprised of seven islands and are a part of the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and a member of the British Commonwealth.

English is the most used and also the official language of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. For everyday use, however, most Vincentians speak a local dialect, called Vincentian English or “Vincy” English. The dialect can vary a little from island to island ranging from easily understood to incomprehensible. Most of the people are of African descent, with a small percentage of Amerindian/black, European, East Indian and Carib people.

Bequia is the northernmost of St. Vincent’s Grenadine islands. It’s also the largest (7 sq. miles) and most populated, with 5,000 people. Named the “island of the clouds” by the Caribs, the island is a delightful place, neat, quite hilly and well forested with a great variety of fruit and nut trees including lots of flowering bushes and some fine golden sand beaches. Bequia attracts quite a number of visitors, chiefly yachtsmen and also the smaller cruise ships and land–based (returning) visitors.

The main village is Port Elizabeth, which is located along the curve of Admiralty Bay. It is an appealing seaside community and the island’s commercial centre. Admiralty Bay offers a safe anchorage for yachts and small cruise ships. The island was once the region’s most important whaling station and there is also a strong boat–building tradition, however today the local boat–building manifests mostly in scale models. More than 90 percent of the boats pulling into beautiful Admiralty Bay are visiting yachts and in the height of the season the harbor is packed with yachts of all shapes and sizes.

A privately owned island, Mustique has been developed into an exclusive haven for the rich and famous. It is a beautiful island with fertile valleys, steep hills, an irregular coastline richly indented with bays and coves and 12 miles of white sandy beach. Lying 7 miles southeast of Bequia, the entire island with its beaches and surrounding waters are a conservation area. It has a population of about 800 people, most of whom work either directly or indirectly for those who vacation there. There are no towns and the island is not commercialized. Britannia Bay, at best a village, has a dock, 18 moorings for medium sized yachts, a general store and a handful of boutiques and the airport is about a mile northeast of the dock.

Canouan has dry scrubby hills and near–deserted beaches. It’s a quiet, peaceful, crescent–shaped island located 25 miles south of St. Vincent. The island extends 3.5 miles in length, but in places this anchor–shaped island is so narrow that it can be walked across in a few minutes. There are about 700 people and equally as many roaming goats. The main anchorage is in Grand Bay, where the jetty is located, while the airport is about a mile to the west. Canouan’s main attraction is its exceptional long, sandy beaches, several of which are reef–protected and good for swimming and snorkeling.

Mayreau, a small island 1.5 miles in length with a population of only 200, is most commonly visited by sailing cruises that travel through the cays and then sail into the deep V–shaped Saltwhistle Bay, at the island’s northern tip. Saltwhistle Bay is protected by a long narrow arm, which at its narrowest, is just a few yards wide. The bay is stunning, with clear waters, beautiful white sands, calm waters and a protected anchorage for visiting yachts. Parts of the island are within the Tobago Cays Marine Park. There are no roads from Saltwhistle Bay, however, a track leads south to the village (a five–minute uphill walk from the dock to the village centre). There is a sandy beach along Saline Bay and deserted beaches within easy walking distance on the east side of the island.

Union Island, located 40 miles from St. Vincent, is the southernmost port of entry in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The island is about 3 miles in length and half that in width. It is high, rocky and dry, it’s largely covered in thorny scrubs and dotted with cacti and free roaming goats. It has two settlements, Ashton and Clifton, with a combined population of 1,900. Seventy five percent of the population live in Ashton however, 95% of the activities take place in the commercial centre of Clifton.

Clifton is the centre of Union Island’s thriving tour industry and includes a marina, airport, shops and restaurants. Most visitors use Union Island as a jumping–off point for cruising the uninhabited Tobago Cays and other nearby islands. There are a few nice deserted and remote beaches around the island. Union Island’s west side reaches 1,000 feet at Mount Tabor and Mount Olympus reaches 637 feet in the northwest. The island’s most substantial landmark is The Pinnacle, a 738–foot plug–shaped rock face that rises abruptly in the interior of the island between Clifton and Ashton.

Southeast of Union Island is Palm Island, a 10–minute boat ride away. It is a small whale–shaped island that is the domain of a privately owned luxury resort. The beach has long been a popular anchorage with yachters and is a stopover on many day tours between Union Island and the Tobago Cays. At the western side of the island, where boats dock, is the picture–perfect Casuarina Beach with sands composed of small bits of white shells and pink coral.

Referred to locally as PSV, is the southernmost and smallest of the inhabited islands that make up St. Vincent and the Grenadines (referred to as SVG). It’s a beautiful privately owned 133–acre island with a single resort, fringed by white–sand beaches, coral reefs and clear waters. There are lots of trees and flowers providing a peaceful atmosphere and you can see most of the southern Grenadines from any location on the island.

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The Grenadine Islands

Bahamas Information Services :– Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham opened the Caribbean Hotel Association's three–day Marketplace at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Sunday night.

Caribbean Marketplace is the most important tourism marketing event of the year for the Caribbean. This marks the seventh time it was held in The Bahamas.

In delivering the keynote address, Prime Minister Ingraham said the Caribbean must come to terms with the growth in cruise tourism.

“It is, I believe, a critical and essential element of our tourism product,” he said. “Increasingly popular with young professionals, families and retired persons, cruise tourism can play an important economic role in bolstering retail business and increasing demand for excursions and local attractions.

He continued, “Our response to cruise tourism’s growth must be to develop new and imaginative ways to have cruise tourism complement our land–based resources, including renewed programs to convert cruise vacationers to return as land–based guests. This is especially important since land–based operators, with higher operating costs and with limited flexibility to vary costs, are likely to remain at a disadvantage to cruise lines that are able to offer near unbeatable all-inclusive, air, meals and entertainment vacations.

“Still, even beyond these developments, it has become an especially competitive time for the hotel industry in the region.”

Mr. Ingraham said it was “critically important” that owners and operators ensure that their hotels are equipped with the amenities demanded and expected by visitors, and that guests leave properties believing that they received good value for money.”

Also in attendance at the event, Minister of Tourism and Aviation Neko Grant said: “Hosting Caribbean Marketplace is quite an auspicious start to the year for the Bahamas’s hospitality industry. A lot has changed on all fronts since The Bahamas last hosted Caribbean Marketplace,” he said.

The Minister pointed out that rooms on Paradise Island alone have almost doubled with the addition of several new facilities, including the recently–opened Cove and Reef condo resorts. New management at the Lynden Pindling International Airport, he added, has commenced renovations there.

The new LPIA is to be constructed over three phases; to be completed on schedule in 2012.

Grant noted that the Cable Beach strip is undergoing transformation under the direction of the Baha Mar Resort “to revitalize and upgrade that resort community into a venue to rival Paradise Island”.

“The government has given the billion–dollar Albany Project at South Ocean the green light, which will transform the south–west area of New Providence,” he continued. “On Grand Bahama Island a number of projects are currently underway inclusive of the Ginn Company’s development on the western end of the island.

“Last year the Ministry of Tourism commenced laying the foundation for ’community–based tourism’, aspects of which were highlighted during the recent African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference held here to further develop heritage and cultural tourism attractions around The Bahamas,” he reported.

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