B.C.I.A. makes bid to buy tourism village
He recently survived the fight of his life to hold on to the presidency of the Belize Cruiseship Industry Association, but Tom Greenwood didn’t miss a beat in his quest to keep control of the tourism village at Fort Point in Belizean hands. In a letter to the owner of the Village, Michael Feinstein, dated July twenty-eighth, Greenwood, on behalf of his Association, offered to buy the facility. It is not known if it’s a case of wishful thinking, but late this evening Greenwood told News 5’s Patrick Jones that while the deal is nowhere near sealed, there is reason to hope.
Tom Greenwood, Pres., Belize Cruise Ship Industry Assn.
“Last week we made a formal application to the Feinstein Group, especially to Mr. Michael Feinstein and we had a short meeting with him. He was most welcoming, as I like to say, and in fact he told me personally that he would be absolutely happy to see the village remain in Belizean hands as such. But he also confirmed what we knew, that he had been in negotiations for quite some time with an outside entity, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines to be precise, and we respect that. But at the same time we thought that we should put our bid in and we’ve made the right moves. We only hope that we are in at the right time and should this be successful. It means so much, I couldn’t even begin to break ground on that.”
Patrick Jones
“That bid for the Tourism Village, how much money are you offering to buy the facility for?”
Tom Greenwood
“Well we’re offering eighteen million U.S. dollars and we believe it is worth it. Mr Feinstein’s product there is one of the most beautiful products in the entire Caribbean. I’d like to think, having seen others, it’s probably the best tourism village I have ever seen in my life. It’s a professionally established entity. It is extremely well done, the guests who come there absolutely love being there, they think it’s the best there is and we believe it is good value for money.”
Patrick Jones
“Eighteen million U.S. dollars, that’s no small change. How are you going to come up with that money to buy the village?”
Tom Greenwood
“Well we approached a local bank with international connections. And we put the bank and Mr. Feinstein together and that’s where it is now. That’s the right place for it to be. Those two are talking and we’re praying at the other end.”
Patrick Jones
“If successful, how is the Belize Cruiseship Industry Association going to manage or run the tourism village?”
Tom Greenwood
“Well this is where the due diligence report and everything comes in. We of course would have to make sure that it is professionally organized, professionally run. We will have to have the right people in place. It must be run as a business, run successfully. We propose of course that members of the Belize Cruiseship Industry Association will be the owners. But there is the business of floating shares and all that. It becomes a proper business entity. But the most important thing is that it remains in Belizeans hand. That is our aim.”
Greenwood says the association expects a response from the Feinstein Group any day now and that such an acquisition should be welcomed by the Belize Tourism Board. The bulk of the Tourism Village’s income is derived from a fee paid by the cruise lines for each passenger aboard their ships.
