Although some months behind schedule because of problems arising out of recent hurricane seasons, Cayman’s exciting new tourist attraction Boatswain’s Beach should be open in four to five months time.
Tour guide with Reliable Transport Carson McField helps tourists hold a turtle. |
‘We’re hoping to have it open for summer, explained Managing Director Ken Hydes. ‘The good thing about this is that the summer is slow season so it will allow us to get all the operational issues sorted before the high season.’
Originally, all going to plan, the park would have been open just last month, but the major cause for the six to seven month delay with the project has been the 2004/’05 hurricane seasons.
‘Coming out of Ivan we thought there was not much of a delay, but the backlog of getting materials and other hurricanes hitting North America meant we had to compete with other countries for materials,’ he explained.
With the delay in opening comes a price.
‘We had a very tight budget and the schedule has had a budgetary impact,’ said Mr. Hydes.
The costs of the project, originally projected at US$48 million, has now risen to US$50 million, and offers of additional funding have been forthcoming.
Features of the marine park will include an opportunity to swim/snorkel with turtles and other marine life in a salt water lagoon, a freshwater lagoon, a predator tank with sharks, a bird aviary, a historic Caymanian street complete with porch-side artisans and crafts, along with the finest Caymanian cuisine. It will also house a world-class research and educational facility.
Local architects OA&D have teamed up with Gladding Jackson out of Orlando for the design of this project and up to 12 small building contractors have been involved in its construction.
The expanded turtle farm at Boatswain’s Beach is fully operational, bar a few extra tanks that are to be added. The rest of the park (Boatswain’s Beach) is, on average, 70 per cent complete.
The new turtle farm facility is a treat with visitors, and those who have ever visited the old site are now especially impressed.
Mr. Hydes explained, ‘The old turtle farm was literally a farm, and now we’re a tourist attraction which accommodates the farm. We now have so many more facilities for turtles and guests’.
The gift shop has always generated 45 per cent of income and has continued to do really well in its new location. The new deli is also a treat, with guests intrigued by offerings such as turtle soup.
The facility is also looking to additional avenues for revenue such as speciality events and weddings.
Extra revenue will also be brought in by the leasing of 18 retail kiosks to local business people, and will include local crafts, ice-cream and cigar booths.
Once the larger Boatswain’s Beach opens, the turtle farm will be a stop on this larger tour. However, the turtle farm tour is being kept as a separate portion.
‘We respect the fact that the local tour operators have the Turtle Farm as their offering and we respect the business partnership we have with them,’ said Mr. Hydes, explaining that some tour operators include the Turtle Farm tour in a wider island tour.
‘We want to make sure we respect the relationship we have with these tour operators who have contributed so much to the success of the Turtle Farm.’
The response to the new turtle farm from locals and residents has been unbelievable, said Mr. Hydes, who added that many have lunch in the deli and at weekends local licence plates can be seen in the parking lot.
One of the main challenges for Mr. Hydes, as managing director, has been to continue the operation of the and day to day overseeing of the turtle farm, amidst the construction of Boatswain’s Beach.
There are 74 general operations staff members at the Turtle Farm, and an additional 75 to 80 people are working on the Boatswain’s Beach project. An extra 40 to 45 people are to be recruited between now and July to work at the finished property, said Mr. Hydes. Overall the Cayman Turtle Farm/Boatswain’s Beach facility will be staffed by about 110 people.
Over 90 per cent of the Turtle Farm staff is Caymanian and it will look to school leavers to fill some of the positions on offer at Boatswain’s Beach. Although a number of the positions are specialised, requiring the recruitment of people from overseas, Mr. Hydes said they will continue to look for ways to offer opportunities for local people to train with them and to make them aware of the jobs available so they can eventually fill them.
The new price into the Turtle Farm is US$7.50 for an adult (up US$1.50) and $4.50 for a child.
The entrance to Boatswain’s Beach will be $US60 per adult for a full day and US$25 for children. This includes everything apart from food and beverage and retail.
Special rates and packages will be worked out for residents and tour groups.
At any given time a quota of 1200 people will be maintained at Boatswains’ Beach (100 people per acre) and numbers at the Turtle Farm are to be monitored, said Mr. Hydes.
Commenting on the importance of diversity of tourism product for the Cayman Islands, Mr. Hydes said, ‘There’s a real awareness that Cayman is back on the tourist map and the Ritz-Carlton is testament to the seriousness with which tourism is being taken here’.
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