HARLEQUIN HOTEL & RESORTS is seeking to redefine tourism in Barbados by establishing a US$400 million (BDS$800 milion) facility with soccer fields and tennis courts using Liverpool and Pat Cash as star appeal and partners.
The five-star resort will be built on 70.4 acres at Merricks in St Philip, and yesterday at a ground-breaking ceremony, chairman Dave Ames said more than 90 per cent of the staff would be Barbadian.
“There are hundreds of millions of dollars that it is going to take to build this resort in Merricks, and we want to invest that money on the island itself, not give the money outside,” Ames said.
Show houses
Construction of show houses [villas] will start in a few weeks and should be completed by December.
Ames told the DAILY NATION that major building would be in three phases, with the first, which will comprise 400 units, expected to be finished by 2012.
Cash, the charismatic Australian who routed Ivan Lendl in the final in three sets to capture the 1987 Wimbledon tennis crown, partnered Ames in turning the sod before an audience that included St Vincent’s Minister of Tourism Glen Beach, prominent Barbadian businessman Sir Charles Williams and former Government minister Noel Lynch.
When completed, the facility will house six tennis courts at the Pat Cash Tennis Academy and two soccer fields under the banner of English football giants Liverpool.
“Some have said you can’t build a resort in a recession; you can, if you get the support of everybody. We are building a destination that is different, and when you do that, people will come to it,” Ames said.
“We are building a destination of class, distinction, service and recreation.”
The Harlequin group is seeking to duplicate the success of St Vincent where it has started construction of the Buccament Bay Resort with 69 cabanas and two restaurants already completed.
“Buccament Bay has been a great experience . . . 99 per cent of all the workers in St Vincent were locals and that is exactly what we plan to do here in Barbados.
Final plans
“The final plans are being put together now but what we can confirm is that it is our aim to bring inward investment to the country.
“We have no interest in bringing outside contractors, outside workers . . . . “we feel like we proved in St Vincent that there is enough skilled labour on the island to create the destination that we are looking to do here at Merricks.”
Cash said he was delighted to continue his association with the Harlequin group.
“I am very excited about being involved in it. Harlequin is a very good company. They do what they say they are going to do, which is important. People feel confident in that.”
