The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Royal Caribbean yesterday said the first Royal Beach Club workshop for potential Bahamian food and beverage, retail and artisan partners exceeded expectations by attracting around 70-80 attendees.

Philip Simon, the cruise line’s senior Bahamian executive and president for its Paradise Island project, said around 50 attendees had been expected. Explaining that the event was only targeted at Bahamian entrepreneurs in those three segments, he added that further workshops will be held for other sectors as Royal Caribbean seeks to “infuse” Bahamian culture into its beach destination.

“This is a first in a series of workshops for the Royal Beach Club Paradise Island,” Mr Simon said. “It’s a partnership between the company and The Bahamas, and so we take that very seriously. And so, while we may have ideas about what it is that we are looking to do on Paradise Island, you know, the concept, the design, we just did not, could not, do that without involving the Bahamian people given the partnership.

“Today it is about food and beverage, it’s about artisans, it’s about retail, and we will have several more of these in the future. And the goal is really to try to infuse as much authentically Bahamian culture into what we are doing on Paradise Island.”

Mr Simon branded attendance at the workshop as “overwhelming” with more than 70 persons signed-up for the inaugural session. He said: “We are extremely pleased with the turnout. We would have sent out notices and the response was overwhelming. We may have to kind of double up on these in the future and we are looking forward to the outcome. The target was 50 for the two-hour workshop. I think we may have gotten closer to 70 or 80 persons.”

“People came and gave their opinions. That was what we were looking for. Of course, they were all business persons and it’s a tremendous opportunity for them to quote their business to us and, in turn, we do the same for them. We are some of the most creative people in the world, and then the ability to infuse that culture that we have into our businesses and our experiences. I think nobody else does it like us. “

Mr Simon added that the entrepreneurs who participate in the workshops will be considered first when tenders and bids start to be issued this year. He added that Royal Caribbean still aims to employ local labour and partner with Bahamian vendors.

He said: “It’s a real honour and a treat to see all the persons that have come forward and the ideas that have been shared, and hopefully we can infuse as much of that as possible into when we get to the end of the year and we start sending out requests for proposal. Certainly, these businesses are at the forefront for consideration.

“We’ve got a ways to go, but the goal remains unchanged. The goal remains 100 percent Bahamian participation not just in terms of the employees but also in the vendors and the third parties that we partner with.”

Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean’s chief product innovation officer, last month explained that the Royal Beach Club’s daily operations will be managed by Bahamians through partnerships with local companies. The cruise line has pledged support for companies that need to scale-up.

He said: “The vast majority of the operation, the goal is that it’s really run and managed by Bahamians. We think about it through a couple of different ways. The first one is really partnering to scale businesses. If you have a business, we want to partner with you…so if you own a laundry business, beach clubs have towels, and so we need a laundry partner as an example.

“The second part of the thought process is that those businesses need scale and support. And one of the benefits of a joint venture like this is we can help scale and support. So if there is a business that meets all the requirements, or one of the areas of the business, scale is where we can help.

“The third part of it is we want you to work with us and help you help us. And so as we go through this process, help incubate entrepreneurs who really can help scale themselves and create a business to help support us as well.”