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By the Caribbean Journal staff
Hyatt Hotels has officially made its debut at the Coco Beach development in Puerto Rico.
The company’s newest Caribbean resort is The Resort at Coco Beach, a Hyatt Affiliated Hotel, a rebranding of the former Gran Melia Puerto Rico resort in Rio Grande.
For now it’s called an “affiliated hotel,” though it will eventually be rebranded into a full-fledged Hyatt Regency resort after what Hyatt is calling an “extensive” renovation.
The property includes a collection of beachfront “bungalows.”
The family-friendly resort, managed by Aimbridge Hospitality, is set in the heart of the massive Coco Beach development near Puerto Rico’s El Yunque rainforest.
It’s perhaps best known for its pair of Tom Kite-designed championship golf courses, currently the home of the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.
Dining options include a Caribbean buffet, the Nori Asian Grill and Prime 787, an American-style steakhouse, along with nearly 37,000 square feet of meeting space.
The main pool at the resort.
There are 579 rooms at the resort, all with balconies or terraces with either garden, pool or ocean views (deluxe suites boast 1,075 square feet and their own outdoor jacuzzis).
Renovated suites are part of a light renovation Hyatt has so far undertaken at the property.
The debut marks the first true Hyatt resort in Puerto Rico, which is already home to several of Hyatt’s other brands including Hyatt House and Hyatt Place.
Rio Grande is about 25 miles outside of San Juan.
It’s just the beginning of what is pegged as a transformative new development in Coco Beach, one that could mean as much as $1.5 billion in new tourism investment and as many as 2,500 new hotel rooms, according to Carla Campos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
For more, visit the Resort at Coco Beach.
— CJ
The post Hyatt Opens New Resort in Puerto Rico appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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By the Caribbean Journal staff
The soon-to-be-upgraded Celebrity Constellation cruise ship is headling Celebrity Cruises’ return to Tampa Bay.
The Celebrity Cruises ship, which had been stationed in Asia, will be homeporting at Port Tampa Bay for the winter 2020 season.
“Our guests and travel advisors have been asking us to return to Tampa since our last call there in 2007,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. “While ‘Celebrity Cruises’ fleet is undergoing a massive modernization with the Celebrity revolution, the beautiful City of Tampa is also experiencing quite a renaissance. How fitting for our evolving brand to return to an evolving city with a completely ‘revolutionized’ ship?’”
Celebrity Constellation will be sailing three itineraries around the region, including a 10-night Eastern Caribbean cruise, an 11-night Southern Caribbean cruise and an 11-night itinerary that will include a stop at the Panama Canal.
“We are very excited to welcome Celebrity Cruises to the Tampa Bay market. In 2020 Celebrity Cruises will offer a variety of itineraries from Tampa that will include stops at exotic locations in southern and eastern Caribbean. The addition of this premium brand to the explosive growth that Tampa Bay is experiencing will add an extraordinary adventure to the many choices vacationers have in Tampa Bay,” said Port Tampa Bay President and CEO Paul Anderson.
Constellation will be heading to dry dock in May 2020 for a major modernization project, part of a wider $500 million fleet enhancement project by the company.
— CJ
The post Celebrity Cruises Is Returning to Tampa Bay appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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… , Conn. (WTNH)– New Haven’s Puerto Rican Festival may have come and … : Arrest made in Puerto Rico Festival social media threat
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By Alexander Britell
St Maarten tourism is booming.
The Dutch Caribbean hotspot is seeing a massive rebound in tourism arrivals, according to newly-released data for the first half of 2019.
St Maarten reported 171,543 stayover visitors in the first six months of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.
That represented a whopping 131 percent increase year over year, a strong statement of rebirth for the destination in the wake of the storms of the fall of 2017.
Sunning on Simpson Bay Beach
Those numbers included strong hotel occupancy in the first half, with an average of 81.9 percent in the first quarter, and 71.4 percent in the second quarter, according to data from the St Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association.
“These numbers highlight how much we have improved since Hurricane Irma and show the resilience of our people,” said St. Maarten Tourism Minister Stuart Johnson. “As St. Maarten continues to redevelop sustainably, we are excited that the visitor numbers remain on the increase. We welcome our new and returning visitors as we continue to promote the diversity of our tourism product and the hospitality of our people.”
The visitor numbers included 92,285 from the all-important U.S. market, along with another 15,683 from Canada.
St Maarten’s tourism renaissance has included a wave of relaunched services, with airlines like Delta, American Airlines, JetBlue, United and Spirit all having returned with regular service.
The relaunched, renowned Karakter beach bar in Simpson Bay.
Air Canada, Air Transat and Sunwing have also resumed service to the destination.
Right now, St Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport is working in a temporary facility, but the airport expects to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2020, according to a statement.
For now, more than 65 percent of all the hotels and timeshares in St Maarten have reopened, with villas and homesharing options seeing an expanded presence.
The hotel stats include a pair of particularly important re-openings: the Sonesta Ocean Point and Sonesta Maho Beach resorts.
And nearly all of St Maarten’s on-island attractions have reopened, from ATV tours to kayaking and scuba diving and beach bars.
“We are delighted to see these numbers,” said St Maarten Director of Tourism May-Ling Chun. “Everyone in the industry has been working tirelessly to ensure that our tourism sector recovers strong and to let visitors know that we’re open for business. We’re very pleased to see that our loyal visitors are now returning to the island in greater numbers.”
For more, visit St Maarten.
— CJ
The post St Maarten Is a Resurgent Caribbean Hotspot appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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