What a difference a year makes.

This coming Monday, about 400 workers will join the hundreds already on site at the Buccament Beach Resort project and within six weeks there will be a total of 1,000 local tradesmen working feverishly on the US$200 million project.{{more}}

Last year around this time, the Buccament Beach Resort project was in the process of firing its contractor and sending home hundreds of workers as operations slowed to a snail’s pace.

Local businessmen were owed millions and some started to question whether or not the dream resort, tapped to bring a huge spike to the local economy, would be a reality.

Last Monday, May 18th, Dave Ames of Harlequin answered that question when he announced that 350 rooms of what will now be a 1,000 room hotel resort will be opened on July 1, 1010.

“It is getting popular, even in these difficult times,” Ames told Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who along with the media was touring the facility.In fact, on July 13, 2009 in London, this resort, along with another Harlequin project in St Lucia, will be launched, with representatives of approximately 1,000 travel agencies from around the world in attendance.

“We’ve got every major tour company from America, Canada, Britain and Europe coming to the launch,” Ames said.

Ames outlined to Dr Gonsalves the resort’s plans, including the many sporting facilities, a 1,000 seat conference facility, five restaurants, and a marina, which they believe will be the best in the region, among other outstanding and exquisite features.

What featured high in the agenda of the informal talks, and will no doubt factor in formal conversations between the government and Harlequin, was the importance of the Argyle International Airport in the future plans of the resort.

“You’re not going to have a 1,000 room hotel without an international airport,” Dr Gonsalves said.

The resort will be managed by the 39-hotel strong, Spanish Hotel chain Oasis, which among other things owns 50 wide bodied jets. Therefore, once the international airport is opened, guests for Buccament will be flown in on these jets directly to St Vincent.

Dr Gonsalves gave Ames the assurance that the airport will be completed in 2012 and explained that the new completion date was as a result of the extra 30 acres of lands that has to be acquired to facilitate the 30-year master plan for the airport.

In the meanwhile, Ames said that they plan to purchase planes and boats to shuttle their guests from Barbados and St Lucia to St Vincent, during the first phase of operation.

Plans will also be discussed with the relevant authorities, including the Customs and Airports Authority, to set up a special area at the E.T. Joshua airport to facilitate the quick movement of the resort’s guests.

Ames however stressed the importance of the international airport to SEARCHLIGHT, saying that as his company does its part, it trusts the government to keep its word regarding the construction of the airport.

“It is about trust…we trust the government to keep its word, because the airport is crucial,” he told SEARCHLIGHT.

As for the doubters of the project, and the negative press that the resort got over the months while it went through a difficult period, Ames said he was not bothered by it.

He told SEARCHLIGHT that he knew the plans that his company and its investors had for the project and knew that the talks and questions were all part of a democracy.

“It never really worried me what people said,” he stated.

Ames said that his company has exceeded the promises it made when it came to St Vincent and the Grenadines and he is looking forward to the launch in London in the next two months and the opening of the first phase a year from then.