Success Stories
ABIQ: Your family has been doing business in Antigua for a while. Tell us a little about your family’s history in Antigua. Tony Randall: Blue Waters was acquired by Ron Randall in 1983 after he had been vacationing here for a number of years. Since that time, a number of changes were made, including increasing the size of the hotel to its current 82 bedrooms. The majority of these changes were made following damage sustained during Hurricane Luis, which subsequently resulted in a complete renovation of Blue Waters, at a cost of over US$9M. Since reopening however, Blue Waters has gone from strength to strength, being named Antigua’s Leading Hotel 2003, and excelling at the 2003 World Trade Awards. ABIQ: You have embarked on a new project which is a departure from your normal business model. Tell us about it. Tony Randall: Having acquired the five acres adjacent to Blue Waters, a number of potential uses were considered. After much deliberation the "buy to let" model was adopted as it allowed an opportunity to develop without incurring a large degree of long-term debt. Following the examples of other successful "buy to let" projects in the Caribbean, we adopted a similar approach and it has been very successful for us, with all 28 units now being sold. ABIQ: What was your motivation for this type of project? Tony Randall: Primarily the motivation has been to take advantage of an opportunity in undeveloped land in a prime location, with the long term objective being to look for further opportunities on the island. ABIQ: What has been the response to your project in the market place? Tony Randall: We have enjoyed a very positive response in the market place. The "buy to let" model in this instance has followed the success we observed in other Caribbean islands. ABIQ: What makes Antigua such a distinctive location for your project? Tony Randall: Apart from our past ties to Antigua, the island’s natural beauty and the hospitality of its people have continuously demonstrated the ability to win the hearts of repeat guests at Blue Waters year in year out. For this reason, we felt confident Antigua would be a perfect fit with investors also looking for a Caribbean home. Furthermore, with airlift from the UK and USA continuing to increase, we felt the island would make sense to vacation owners wanting somewhere to quickly jet off to and enjoy some rest and relaxation in paradise. ABIQ: What were some of the major challenges that you faced? Tony Randall: Challenges we have faced could be said to be no different from those faced by any developer anywhere in the world, ecept possibly due to the incredible amount of development already taking place in Antigua, where occasionally we have struggled to get material, though this would only account for a small delay. Our philosophy has been to remain focused and keep working away at challenges presented, and we hope that shortly, the development will enter the final stages of completion. ABIQ: What type of support have you received from the Government for your project? Tony Randall: All levels of Government have been incredibly supportive with the development of The Cove and we would like to thank everyone for their assistance to date, with a special thank you to Minister Lovell for his time and assistance in getting us to where we are today. ABIQ: How would you rate "Ease of doing business in Antigua"? Tony Randall: Antigua has been a pleasure to work in for the 24 years we have been involved. Tourism is clearly accepted as an important part of the island’s future, and in that regard everyone assists in the continued development of the island. ABIQ: What advice would you give a prospective investor? Tony Randall: Work closely with the Government and they will provide a great deal of support.
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