Feature
Peter de Savary
Unplugged
On The Recession
I’m very lucky because I didn’t have any projects that were fully pregnant, we had completed all of our work. So we are in a good position to sit tight. We have no bank loans so that is helpful. I think that we are going to have the sort of present circumstances for the next few years and we need to adjust ourselves to a reduced market. I see no reason that Grenada being a small country with a limited population can’t actually do quite well out of this.
was born on a farm in an air raid during the second world war. I spent the first nine years of my life in Venezuela near Lake Maracaibo; my parents were with Shell Oil Co. I first came to Grenada for one month in 1952, I remember it well. I learned to sail here and drive a boat from a fisherman. There were no roads so we went everywhere by boat. My love of boats and the sea was born and begun here. I’m 66 this year, and I figured I’d do one more pioneering type project starting it right from nothing. There were a number of Caribbean countries that offered opportunities, but I think it was this childhood memory of Grenada that made me think I must go and have a look at Grenada. So I came back in 2006 of course the Island was still lovely, the airport and roads were great, the mobile worked and the Government was welcoming. It just seemed to me that Grenada’s time was now. It hadn’t had an explosion in the tourism industry like some of the other islands with mass tourism. The opportunity was here, it felt good and I jumped straight in. Thinking back to the earlier condition of Mt. Cinnamon, it was a real scruffy mess. The units were derelict, the lower land by the beach was trash and old vehicles. Now when you drive up there I think the landscaping is very attractive. We’re just about to build a 3 million dollar home in Mt. Cinnamon. When people see one going up it will lead to others. Port Louis and Camper & Nicholson are doing a great job with the Marina. We’re now landscaping that reclaimed land which will become a big garden that will look nice. We‘re hoping later this year to continue the other phases of the project. You have to remember I brought in Camper & Nicholson. They were offered that land before I was, and they turned it down. I took the risk of buying that entire headache and trouble. I cleaned the lagoon and dredged it, removed the wrecks, scrap yard and the pollution. Now we have benefited from them completing the marina. I‘m the front guy the risk taker that‘s what I do. I’m the one with the vision and I bring in the creativity of the designs and obtain the permits. That puts the project into a position that other people feel comfortable with. I then sell to people that are good at execution and management.
I
Marketing
The first thing we had to do was get the word out about the magic of Grenada. Over the past 18 months we’ve brought in over 300 journalists from all over the world; we provided them with accommodation toured them all over the island gave them some treats and sent them back and I think that they all had a wonderful impression and have written and done good things. So these are really good times to be sowing the seeds and selling the virtues of Grenada. Pure marketing and PR expenditure is around 8 million US$ so far. Three projects, Tufton Hall Eco Spa, Port Louis, and Mt. Cinnamon together represent just about 1.5 billion US dollars of developed value it’s very high quality so it’s expensive.
Visions
In Europe they have the twinning of cities. Grenada would benefit greatly with a reciprocal friendship with a country like Monaco. St. George’s is very similar city to Monte Carlo both are cities on a hill with a marina and the harbour at the bottom. The principality of Monaco’s main company has been managing the Casino’s, Hotels, shops, and restaurants, and the marina for about 175 years and they’ve been very successful. Working with their management team would be a real vitamin shot in the arm for Grenada. Monaco has no land left to invest in and it’s quite a seasonal place, in winter it’s very quiet which is the opposite season for Grenada. This would offer some excellent training opportunities for great Grenada Chefs for instance. We could send them there in the summer and in the winter when we need a bit of training and help they could send a few of their great Chefs here. That’s a healthy thing. Everybody’s skills are going to go up.
We need to create some employment opportunities quickly. Especially for the youth of this country. If Monaco formed a friendship twin here and they were to invest in and market Grenada it would be in every newspaper, magazine and television station in the world and the millions of people that love and know Monaco would say “Grenada, hmm never thought of Grenada.“ Another great fit for Grenada to team up with on a friendship basis would be Bahrain. They’ve got a lot of money and they need to invest it somewhere safe and nice. We’re a long way away from the potential troubles of the Middle East. Grenada can offer a virgin place that’s not overdeveloped or spoiled. A place where people come here that are creative and do things like artist colonies, writers workshops with the financial help we can accelerate this process. This is the kind of era that domestic politics should be subordinated a little, to the national interest of the country. Where the private sector is an unofficial partner with the public sector and the government and the people are working hand in hand. The thing about foreign investment is it’s a huge catalyst to local investment. That sparks enthusiasm and confidence and then local people invest which leads to an entrepreneurial society where lots of opportunities become available. There are plenty of Grenadians with money. I saw this happening as Port Louis and Mt. Cinnamon was developing. People started to invest in their own businesses. They bought new equipment and bettered their facilities. Some people who were employees quit and started their own businesses. Imagine if you could suddenly create 15,000 jobs in Gre ?YK???[??&]] ?[???H [????[?H\??H??[? ?H H?YY??[?H??Z[[??????HH Y?H[?X]????[?YH?\??&]]?H ]?Y?H ??[N? ?[\ HH?YY ? ?[][]H [?????H?\?\?H[?Y?X?[ \?[[??\?H[??[?YH [?H]?H?H? H ?? ?[???\?[H ??[ ?[??[?\?[ H ?XZ?[?? [?H]?H ?]\??[\? ?\?HH?Y [?? ^H?]\?H[??][??H[?H [?H?[? ?? X?H[? [?\?????[? ?H H?] \??[\? ?\?H^ [??]?K?\?H ??[?H??[\??Y????\? ??Z] ?? ?Y?]X?\?[?H??[?H Y?B??????\?[?\???[?YK???B??LB??