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Terra Nova making plans to expand

Published:Wednesday | June 13, 2018 | 12:00 AM
Managing Director of Terra Nova All Suite Hotel, Ruth Hussey (left), director Christelle Harris, and Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett pose with the Four-Diamond Award presented to the hotel by the AAA, on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

The Hussey family plans to expand the number of rooms at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, which racked up another international award for refined service.

It's the only Kingston hotel to receive the AAA Four Diamond Award, according to the tourism ministry.

"We will expand the rooms, but just not yet," Ruth Hussey told the Financial Gleaner at the awards ceremony, but declined to comment further on whether it would done through any type of partnership, saying it was too early to speak about the details.

"You're trying to pull my tongue, [but] not yet," said Hussey.

With just 41 suites, according to its website, the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel offers an exclusive retreat from the larger hotels in Jamaica. On Tuesday, Terra Nova lauded 20 members of staff for outstanding service, led by Frank Gilmore who received the inaugural award for excellence in service from the hotel.

Concurrently, the hotel itself received the Four Diamond Award from the AAA, which reviews thousands of hotels in the Americas. Terra Nova first achieved the award in 2015.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett urged family-run hotels to embark on efficiency drives as a means of competing against hotel chains run by corporations. Kingston will have 1,000 formal hotel rooms following the reopening of Wyndham with its 300-plus rooms. These rooms mainly cater to business travellers.

"When you have more than 1,000 good rooms in a small city such as this, then you are beginning to take the steps to be recognised as a centre for city tourism," said Bartlett, adding that attractions of music and food will add to its appeal.

Bartlett added that efficiency and linkages will allow family-run hotels to compete against hotel chains. He indicated that the country has transitioned from the paradigm of "family companies to public companies.

"For the first time, we are seeing Wall Street show a big interest in tourism," said Bartlett in reference to the Playa Group, a listed company on the US Nasdaq stock exchange securing a deal to acquire tourism properties held by Sagicor Group Jamaica. "It means that tourism is now becoming an industry that is driven by value and price."

Bartlett wants hotels to form linkages in order to influence the final price of the product.

"So integration is a part of the process as there are mergers and acquisitions ... that means that traditional partners have to reinvent themselves, which means some level of disruption," he said. "I hear the sound and I understand the pain."

The Terra Nova Hotel, which sits on 5.5 acres, remains one of the oldest-hotel running properties in Kingston. In 2013, the Hussey family embarked on an upgrade of the property, including the retrofitting of upholstery and furnishings to a signature gold and black.

The Husseys acquired Terra Nova for US$4.5 million and injected another $30 million of capital to upgrade it some 17 years ago. The hotel was formally owned by insurance company Guardian Life, the local subsidiary of Trinidadian conglomerate Guardian Holdings Limited. The hotel asset was reportedly handed to Guardian under its $1.1-billion deal in May 1999 to acquire the individual life and pension portfolios of Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society, Dyoll Life and Crown Eagle. Guardian Life leased the property to the Hussey family with an option to purchase. It then comprised 35 rooms.

The family also has interests in sugar and rum - through Long Pond and Hampden sugar estates; pharmacies - Discount Centre and Liguanea Lane Pharmacy; laundry service - Super Cleaners; stud farming and racehorse training; and a gaming lounge.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com