Senior vice president for Ritz Carlton for the Caribbean, Ezzat Coutry says that the construction of the Ritz Carlton in Cap Cana, on the East Coast of the Dominican Republic is a firm commitment. “The project is confirmed. It is just a matter of the owners getting their financing,” he said during a press conference in Caribbean Marketplace, the largest Caribbean travel-booking event. At the event, the company presented its Residences at The Ritz Carlton, St. Lucia planned property, where construction has also slowed.
“The situation is not as bleak as we thought, but it will be a challenging year,” he said. Coutry mentioned that projects in Bahamas (Rose Island) and Turks & Caicos are also on hold due to setbacks in obtaining the planned Lehman Brothers financing. Other new projects in the Ritz Carlton pipeline for the next five years are Los Cabos (Mexico), Dorado Beach (Puerto Rico), St Kitts, Panama City, Bermuda and Colombia. “Development has truly not stopped, we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. Construction is moving ahead, nevertheless on the brand’s Mexico City high-rise hotel.
Judy Whidden, sales manager wholesale says they ?are having to do things differently to deal with the economic difficulties that are affecting their customers?. At their Cancun, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, San Juan and St. Thomas Caribbean properties, Ritz Carlton is enticing guests to come back with a “reconnect” campaign that offers attractive credits on stays, daily breakfast for two, and special wedding offerings with three complimentary nights on their return for their first anniversary.