In one year’s time, the Boatswain’s Beach (formerly the Turtle Farm) tourist attraction in Grand Cayman could be self-sufficient, according to Managing Director, Kenneth Hydes.

The West Bay facility, which started five years ago, is currently almost complete after undergoing a massive redevelopment phase through Government’s assistance.

Mr Hydes, during an exclusive tour of the Boatswain’s Beach, told Cayman Net News that a substantial investment was made to get the facility to its present condition.

“It is an investment we need to take from the finished stage and actually bring it to the point where we are at the money making stage, so that we can be self-sustaining and not to have to rely on Government to support us going forward,” he said.

Mr Hydes said the plan is to be independent from Government assistance as early as December of 2007.

“I think by this time next year we will actually be at a point where we will be totally self-sufficient and no longer requiring any assistance from Government,” he said.

“Government has made commitments to support us with the bond payments up to September of next year. By December of next year we really have to be totally independent and being able to pay our own way.”

Even before Boatswain’s Beach becomes independent financially, the management forecasted that they would be able to meet expenses by January 2007.

“Our first objective is for this park to be paying for its expenses and then we will have to be able to move in to cover our obligations for bond payments and debt service,” he said.

With Government constantly injecting huge sums of money into the project, some sections of the community have questioned the wisdom of that type of investment.

The head of the tourist park said residents were familiar with the old Turtle Farm and were probably unaware of the new concept of Boatswain’s Beach, which has replaced the former.

“What has been reported out there has been fairly accurate. They are saying how you take that large amount of money and build a turtle farm,” he said.

According to him, Boatswain’s Beach is a state-of-the-art facility, which is comparable or even better than similar tourist attractions in Florida.

Mr Hdyes has called on residents to take ownership of the park, saying the investment made by Government was on their behalf.

“The investment that has been made in this place can visually be seen. We really want the residents to come out and take ownership of this park,” he said.

“The money for this park has come from the Government, which essentially comes from the people of the Cayman Islands and it is their park and the park for the visitors.”

He said the original business plan of Boatswain’s Beach was a simple one that included one admission ticket, costing US$60 for an adult and US$25 for a full tour.

He further explained that that has been modified into four or five packages, which still include the Turtle Farm tour only.

A simple trip to the park could cost US$12.50 per adult or US$10 per child, he said.

The new deal would see special packages for individual cruise lines with residents paying half the rates.
“We are working with our cruise partners to bring packages online that are more suited to their individual lines and their demographics and the clientele that they serve,” he said.

“We are going from having one package to having about four or five different packages, some for land based, some for cruise related."

With residents and visitors wowed by its beauty and educational features, the hosting of special events has been heavily requested in the past few months.

He said the park is going to be a very popular place for weddings, birthday parties and other functions with several corporate parties already planned for the Christmas season.

The business plan and the revenue streams to support the facility have changed from the original plan, he said.

Mr Hydes said the project has been strongly supported by Boatswain’s Beach board of directors and the Government.