by Marlon Madden
Operators of the iconic Harrison’s Cave Eco-Adventure Park are reporting very good business from Barbadians since the reopening of the attraction in July last year, and are expecting the trend to continue as the upgrades are completed. However, Chief Executive Officer of CHUKKA Caribbean Adventures Marc Melville said while increasing business, it will be done in a responsible way.
“I want to thank Bajans. I didn’t expect the amount of support we got, and for this coming summer I believe we will see the same with the new packages that we have to offer as of June 15, which will be packages that include the zipline, the challenge course and the Mount Gay rum experience, in addition to the ten other elements that we have done to the park to improve its overall experience since we have reopened,” he said.
On Tuesday, members of the media joined CHUKKA Caribbean officials, representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and other partners on a tour to see the updates at the St Thomas facility. The sprawling attraction, which consists of rich vegetation and is wheelchair accessible, is being revamped to include a variety of activities that should be of interest to everyone from the young to the young at heart and everyone else in between.
So far, about 75 per cent of the zipline, nature trail and obstacle course have been completed, with very little to no impact on the vegetation on the grounds. Melville said a very careful approach was being taken to minimise the impact on the environment as much as possible, even while the number of people able to visit the location at any given moment increases.
“The infrastructure is so amazing and well-built, we just want to dot it with experiential spaces – the cabanas, seating, the pool,” he said. “The objective of Harrison’s Cave is to ensure that people who have been here ten times want to come back over and over and they are not going to come for 45 minutes and [wait for the children]. We want them to come here, have a drink and stay and play,” he said.
In addition to the usual cave tour, from June 15 visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy three different ziplines, an informative nature trail, a Mount Gay rum cellar and tasting room, and the obstacle challenge course.
The Bajan chattel house themed video information room should be ready by July and the approximately 30 feet infinity pool is scheduled to be completed by October. Meanwhile, the enhanced interpretation centre, a suspended bridge, a dry slide, additional gazebos, an aviary and a renewed retail centre are to form the next phase of the project, which is expected to be completed by December 2023. Melville disclosed that operators had the option of closing the facility while the approximately US$5 million upgrades, which started in January 2021, were taking place.
“We didn’t have all the money upfront and we could have closed for another 12 months and then do everything at once, but for persons’ jobs, vendors, the brand and for the business, we took the harder route, which actually cost more money to keep the business open and build it out at the same time,” he said.
He said a part of the plan was that while increasing visitation, they would also increase yield by offering some premium services.
Melville said he was very eager to start night activities such as reunions, wedding receptions and other special events, saying “this will not be a run of the mill type thing but a premium product sold to persons with premium budgets”. That aspect of the offering is to begin once the ongoing projects are completed by the end of next year. “The more revenue we generate here is the more returns the government makes, but it doesn’t mean we want to ram another 52,000 people through the cave because in some ways you might be stressing the same asset that is the jewel in the crown,” he said.
“So the key is to come here and dissipate our visitors – they get in and some will stay for the rum experience, some will go down to the bottom and go to the nature walk to go where the bird aviary is, some will be on the zipline, some will be on the challenge course and some will get lost on the nature trail and then some will go on the tram – so you will be able to have 2,000 people here in a day that is no longer here between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m., you will be able to have 2,000 people between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., which will allow us to have a great experience, great yield and better customer experience overall,”
he explained.
Recently, Government announced that residents of Allen View, St Thomas near Harrison’s Cave and people who own land in the area are to relocate because they are unable to build due to environmental reasons. Country Manager of CHUKKA Caribbean (Barbados) Ltd. Andrea Franklin said while this may be the case, “we still have a responsibility to the people of the Allen View community and Welchman Hall to see how best we can work with them to make it a marriage for us really”.
She said CHUKKA will continue to help keep the gully in the area clean, and through its CHUKKA Foundation committee that was recently established, will identify several projects in and around the community to
benefit the residents, some of whom are to be given new spaces in the Forty Acres community.
She said one of the projects will be to build a play park for children of Allen View, noting that land has already been identified for that project. She also noted that people with small businesses in the area have been benefitting from the upgrade project since it began in January year.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport Senator Lisa Cummins said she was pleased with the efforts by CHUKKA Caribbean officials in drumming up business for the island. “We know that CHUKKA is not just offering an attraction here in Barbados, but they are engaging actively in meaningful ways with the trade partners to bring business, not just to Barbados but to the cave,”
said Cummins.
Through a partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. and CHUKKA Caribbean (Barbados) Ltd., school children and their teachers will have an opportunity to visit the attraction during the summer period at special rates under
a new initiative.
Cummins explained that this initiative, which was delayed from last summer as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, was part of efforts to familiarise young Barbadians with aspects of the island’s tourism offerings.
“We are hoping that over the course of the summer we are able to bring school children and their teachers through Harrison’s Cave so they are able to experience what we have to offer and go home and tell their parents and families and to bring more Barbadians,” she said.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
