D’Aguilar on Grand Lucayan sale: Clearly events on the ground have changed

Transferring ownership of the Grand Lucayan resort would not likely make a material difference in occupancy in the short term, given the depressed environment of the global tourism industry, Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar told Guardian Business yesterday. He added that the core business of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. – the cruise ship company negotiating with the government to purchase the resort via the Holistica joint venture with ITM Group – would have faced a year of shutdown in 2021.

D’Aguilar added that the government continues to await a report from global financial services firm KPMG that will indicate whether the hotel property is being sold at the best deal possible. Meantime, Lighthouse Pointe at Grand Lucayan is expected to once again open to guests on February 1.

D’Aguilar said any tourism-related business is, at the moment, “catching God almighty hell”, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to stymie travel.

“World travel is down by 70 percent and any investments in airlines, hotels, cruise ships, excursions are all suffering the worst period in living memory,” said D’Aguilar.

“In the throes of this horrendous pandemic, we are attempting to sell a hotel… we would have thought back in March, what we had was a good deal, but, clearly, events on the ground have changed.

“The intended purchasers have as their core business cruising and it will probably be just over a year that they would have been completely shut down. And it is in this environment that we are trying to negotiate a transaction.”

Royal Caribbean and the ITM Group came together to purchase the Grand Lucayan, with grand plans to renovate the property. Now, those plans may be less ambitious due to the fallout from COVID-19.

D’Aguilar said travel will return in 2021, thanks to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The first six months of 2021 will be better than the first six of 2020, but not as good as 2019,” he said.

“As the year moves on and as the use of the vaccine increases, people will have the confidence to travel.

“Being in the throes of this pandemic, every business in the tourism sector is still going to be hurting a little compared to what it once was. This is going to take some time.” 

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