Calivigny Island
positive publicity for the island?” Mr. George Cohen “Staying here will be very discrete. The kind of people who will come will probably have a lot of staff following them. They spend a lot of money in the country but they do it very discretely. I don’t think it will serve us in good stead to make any publicity about their visit on Calivigny Island. But Grenada will surely benefit.” “Bill Fisher’s agency, for instance, is the agency which organizes the vacation of the President of the United States. If he recommends Calivigny Island to President Obama, for example, I am sure he would request a lot of privacy. I am not sure he would come here…….I would love him to come here.” Question: “Can you see yourself diversifying in Grenada?” Mr. Georges Cohen: “I have in Grenada big assets which include this island, The Secret Harbour Marina, and some land which I own. So all I am doing in Grenada is real estate development.” Question: “Would you care to put a cost on how much this island has set you back to develop to the point where it is now?” Mr. Georges Cohen: “ It is difficult to say because there is a lot of indirect costs. For sure it is over
100 million Euros….. Quite a lot of money went into logistics. We imported everything, transportation, tax, labour – a lot of labour! We have trained a lot of Grenadians here. I can say that Calivigny has been a big construction school for Grenadians. For sure there has been a serious level of transfer of skills. We have brought a lot of specialists from Europe in masonry, carpentry, plumbing, electrical who taught their Grenadian counterparts and left. I must say that the locals learnt quickly and we have now very qualified companions. We can boast of having on Calivigny, the best mason on Grenada.” Question: “What made you choose Grenada?” Mr. Georges Cohen: “My wife and I have been navigating through the Caribbean years and years and I have to say that Grenada is a gem! Grenada is unspoiled with lots of opportunities for development. That’s the kind of place I like. I do not like to be in a place which is developed already. I am an entrepreneur always seeking opportunities. One important plus for Grenada which attracted us here is the hospitality of the general population for the most part.”
Whats Next? Mr. Cohen plans to commence the construction bungalows with a total of ten rooms bringing the first phase capacity to 30 rooms altogether. The first phase is likely to be complete between the middle to the end of 2010. we already have the advantage that we will be featured on the front page of a magazine called Best Hotels of the World. We would also be on the front page of The One Hundred Top Places of the World magazine as a new destination.” On the issue of the current global economic crisis, Mr. Cohen is hopeful that because his niche market is targeted at the mega rich which is a very small percentage – Calivigny Island is likely to do well among them. To quote him: “After all, I do not think that these people would cancel their holiday