Linpico is supporting an exciting initiative to attract investments to the yachting sector designed over time to transform the Eastern Caribbean into a major hub for mega and cruising yachts.
The project involves a Regional Assessment of the infrastructure and services available for yachting in the Eastern Caribbean from the USVI to Trinidad and Tobago. The study will provide information on the movement of yachts through the region, identifying main hubs, the linkages between private jets and the yachting sector, best practices and common challenges across the region with respect of standards and the delivery of ancillary services. It will provide key recommendations for the enhanced capacity of the region as a whole to attract greater numbers of cruisers and mega yachts, and strategic information to the four member states with respect of the amenities available within the region. The report – the first of its kind in the Caribbean – will be a rich and invaluable addition to the body of knowledge on the yachting sector in the Caribbean and will be of particular benefit in regional policy formulation.
The second component will be a Plan for Investments in the yachting sector tailored to the specificities of Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica and St Kitts & Nevis. The gaps in services and infrastructure identified in the regional analysis will be transformed into investment opportunities and presented in each of four Investment Plans. These will identify investment opportunities in infrastructure and services in both new and existing facilities, and will also focus on the value chains: youth skills, training and certification requirements of the industry and linkages to the agricultural sector through provisioning. It will add value to the macro-economic and policy framework of each country and provide the basis for new flows of FDI. Public and private sector stakeholders will be consulted in the process of producing both the Regional Assessment and National Investment Plan.
Preliminary results of both the Regional Assessment and National Investment Plan will be presented at another Flagship initiative of the ECS Embassy – The Eastern Caribbean’s First Annual International Yachting Event hosted in St Vincent & the Grenadines on 28-29 April, 2015. The event to promote the attractiveness of the region for yachting and provide enhanced investment opportunities for the sector in the Eastern Caribbean, transforming it into a hub for mega & cruising yachts, is designed to attract investors, super yacht owners, insurers and others, and will rotate annually among the four member states.
