Karisma is looking to make a major expansion in South America.

The company has appointed Juan Pablo Franky as its new chief executive officer for the region, a role in which he will spearhead the expansion of Karisma’s brands.

“We are extremely pleased that Juan Pablo is joining our accomplished team, taking on a pivotal leadership role towards bolstering our presence in South America,” said Neil Evans, Chief Operating Officer of Karisma Hotels & Resorts. “Karisma has experienced rapid global growth over the past few years and we are eager to continue this trajectory with a focus on bringing our world-class brands to Latin America. With Juan Pablo at the helm and a new office in Bogotá, we are confident South America will be an increasingly significant market for Karisma’s new and existing luxury properties around the world.”

Franky will concentrate on commercial development in Latin America for Karisma’s brands, which include El Dorado Spa Resorts, Azul Beach Resorts, Generations Resorts, Karisma Villas, Allure Hotels, Hidden Beach Resort, Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts, Karisma Hotels Adriatic and Margaritaville, many of which already operate in the Caribbean region.

“I am very excited to join Karisma Hotels & Resorts and help the company to achieve its goal of increasing its hotel portfolio by 35 percent by 2020,” Franky said. “I look forward to bringing Karisma’s elevated standard of luxury to Latin America while further educating agents, operators and leisure travelers on its Gourmet Inclusive Experience, esteemed partnerships and the innovative services and amenities found at each of its world-class properties.”

Franky had most recently served as vice president of development and investment for Decameron Hotels.

The post Karisma Planning South American Expansion appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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It’s perhaps the most exciting addition to the Caribbean underwater scene in years: the BVI Art Reef, the brainchild of a group of conservationists led by BVI resident Sir Richard Branson.

It’s called the BVI Art Reef, and an underwater art installation centered around an old World War II warship called the Kodiak Queen and a massive “kraken” sea monster sculpture all off the coast of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.

But it’s also part of a larger, multifaceted project that includes everything from grouper repopulation to coral restoration.

The project was a joint effort that include partners like the government of the British Virgin Islands, Unite BVI, Maverick1000, Secret Samurai Productions, Beneath the Waves, Commercial Dive Services and the Association of Reef Keepers.

Better still? You can snorkel the site, too, making it accessible for even more travelers.

Caribbean Journal recently checked out the site to bring you an exclusive video look. See more in the video at the top of the page.

For more info, visit the BVI Art Reef project.

— CJ

The post VIDEO: Richard Branson’s New Underwater Destination in the BVI appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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The government of the Bahamas is launching an “ambitious” solarization program over the next five years, Bahamas Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said this week.

Through its Sustainable Nassau Project, the government will better integrate smart technology to ensure that Bahamians use less energy in public buildings, schools and street lighting.

“As a low-lying nation chain, our development strategies must be smart and sustainable,” Minnis said. “Eighty percent of the landmass in The Bahamas will be threatened by a one meter rise in the sea level.”

“Even as we urge the larger nations of the world to reduce their enormous carbon footprint, and to help Small Island Developing States to mitigate the effects of climate change, we must play our part in developing sustainable energy,” he said.

“Climate change is a global challenge that does not respect national borders,” U.N. Officials report. “Emissions anywhere affect people everywhere. It is an issue that requires solutions that need to be coordinated at the international level and it requires international cooperation to help developing countries move toward a low-carbon economy.”

These officials points to affordable, scalable solutions available to enable countries to reach cleaner, more resilient economies.

Among these options are renewable energy and a range of other measures that will reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts.

“We should be diligent in putting in action, plans for renewable energy and energy efficiency from the sun, wind, the oceans, rivers and lakes,” Minnis said.

— Dana Niland, CJ Contributor

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By Alexander Britell

The Bahamas’ Atlantis resort has delayed the planned debut for its relaunched Coral Towers resort.

The Coral, which had been slated to debut July 16, will now be opening its doors later this summer, a spokesperson confirmed to Caribbean Journal.

“Our first guests to The Coral will be welcomed later this summer and the new Coral Pool will be opening this fall.  Guests already booked into The Coral this summer will be offered a complimentary upgrade [to The Cove or to The Reef], our luxury Oceanside property,” the company said in a statement. “Later this summer and until the fall opening of The Coral Pool, we will be offering reduced rates at The Coral while we complete the final renovations and construction needed to finalize the relaunch of this incredible new hotel.”

The much anticipated relaunch of one of the hotel’s older wings (it first opened in 1994) is part of a wider rebranding for Atlantis, which is seeking to reorient itself around more authentic Bahamian experiences.

That’s joined by a new campaign to highlight the resort’s Bahamian identity called “Come to Life.”

The Coral redesign will be accompanied by a similar transformation of Atlantis’ Marina Village, one that “will allow our guests to connect with Bahamian culture,” according to a release by Howard C. Karawan, President and Managing Director of Atlantis, Paradise Island.

The Coral’s relaunch also includes a major pool component designed by noted architect Jeffrey Beers and a new lobby lounge with features like an ice cream parlor and a bakery, along with “redesigned” rooms and suites.

It is an estimated $20 million renovation, the company said last year.

The post Atlantis’ Coral Towers Relaunch Delayed appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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If you’re lucky, if you’re there at just the right moment before dusk takes its evening bow, you can see a glimmer of something wonderful.

A flock of scarlet ibis birds flashes out of nowhere, a speckling of bright red in the green mangroves of Trinidad’s Caroni Swamp.

Photo by Bryan Naidu.

It’s a daily moment in Trinidad, an hour and place that bring visitors from around the world.

It’s not too far from here that Italian Luca Gargano found something on a trip to the island in 2004: the last glimmer of some legendary Caribbean rum.

A little more than a year after the old Caroni rum distillery had closed its doors, Gargano discovered that inside the old-state owned facility were hundreds of barrels of Caroni’s aging “heavy” rum, some dating back three decades.

Gargano, the owner of Velier, a specialty spirits importer that has made an art form of discovering rare and seemingly unobtainable old spirits (including rum), was able to acquire the rums and eventually bottle them, a treasure trove of rum archaeology.

Rum Journal was lucky enough to obtain a bottle, which is available in limited supply on the global market, including in the United States.

RJ tried the Caroni 17-year Old Rum, a 1998 vintage rum bottled at the end of 2015.

Housed in a beautiful bottle with a replica of a 1940s-era rum label, the 17-year has an alluring amber color and a funky, robust aroma of caramel and dried apricot and a hint of smoke; the moment you smell it you know you’ve found something very, very special.

The flavor profile is at first quite spicy before quickly rounding off into notes of dried mango, citrus peel, apricot and banana. Then come smoky suggestions of black pepper and oak.

The luxurious finish is perhaps the most remarkable quality: it seems to go on forever, somehow hinting at permanence.

Bottled at 55 percent ABV, this is no ordinary rum.

With each sip, the legend grows. But more special is the notion that this is truly a limited rum — it is the unearthing of a lost rum that will never be made again.

It’s the kind of thing that should be enjoyed every day, just at the edge of dusk.

That is, until it’s gone forever.

— CJ

The post Rum Journal: A Legendary Rum From A Lost Trinidad Distillery appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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