Martyn Bould RLB Caribbean chairman addresses Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference 24th and 26th April 2012 in San Juan Puerto Rico on Chinese Investment in the Caribbean.

Martyn Bould represented Rider Levett Bucknall at the 16th  annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference in San Juan Puerto Rico held from 24th  to 26th  April 2012, addressing the issues  surrounding  Chinese  investment  on  the  panel  session”  Opportunities  in  the  Caribbean Tourism Industry –Public and Private Sector Partnerships”

The Conference is a collaboration between the Caribbean Tourism Organisation and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and attracted almost 200 delegates from 23 Caribbean countries, the United States and the United Kingdom. Amongst the delegates were architects developers, financial advisers, hotel chain executives , hotel owners lenders,, real estate agents and time share developers, as well as tourism and government officials from the public sector.

Joining Martyn on the Opportunities Panel were, Gary Brough, Managing Director KPMG in the Turks  and  Caicos  Islands  and  Head  of  KPMG’s  Travel,  Leisure  and  Tourism  Group  in  the Caribbean, The Hon Karie Roy-Camille, President Comite Martiniquais du Tourisme, Senator Richard Skerritt, Minister of Tourism and International Transport Government of St Kitts and Nevis, Hon Haydn Hughes First Nominated Member Parliamentary Secretary Tourism Government of Anguilla.

The panel discussion resulted in a lively question and answer session exploring the requirement that a successful path ahead requires innovative solutions that integrates all major components of the tourism industry, particularly the partnership between the public and private sector.

Sparking  the  discussion  was  RLB’s  unique  role  as  project  monitor  on  the  Baha  Mar  Resort providing the essential due diligence to the funder The Export Import Bank of China with 40 plus years of Caribbean experience, coupled with being a global company with extensive Chinese presence and provided a great active case study of how a Bahamian developer and Government had partnered  with  a  Chinese  Bank  and  Contractor  to  create  one  of  the  most  exciting  resort developments the Caribbean has ever seen..

Martyn commented that the Conference continues to provide a excellent opportunity for the public and private sectors of the all important tourism industry in the Caribbean to share experiences and to actively work on ways to maximise its benefits.