Chukka to combine history and adventure

Dionne Rose, Business Reporter

Nature adventure tour company, Chukka Caribbean Adventures, is investing US$2.3 million (J$198 million) to bring its attraction closer to Falmouth, Trelawny, in a bid to cash in on the booming cruise-ship tourism business expected to flow from the development of the deep-water harbour and cruise-shipping facilities which are to open in the small history-themed town early next year.

Financial and information systems director at Chukka Caribbean Adventures, Alexander Melville, told Sunday Business that the investment would see the company putting in several tours on the 700-acre Good Hope Estate near Falmouth. The property is being leased from

the Hart family and the project is expected to create between 120 and 150 jobs.

"We are going to be doing canopy tours, river tubing, horseback riding, and carriage tours," Melville said.

The new tour attraction is expected to be up and running by early January, and the money being pumped in will go towards equipment, buildings, and restoration of some edifices on the former sugar plantation site.

"We have done 30 per cent of the work already," said Melville, who revealed that construction started two months ago.

Royal Caribbean contracts

He added that the company had already secured contracts with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which will have one of its largest ships, Oasis of the Seas, docking at the new Falmouth pier in early 2011.

The Oasis of the Seas has a capacity of more than 8,400 passengers and crew. The new Falmouth pier is being constructed as a joint venture by the government-owned Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) and Royal Caribbean. In 2008 the Government said the expansion and refurbishing of the port would cost US$224 million.

The Government of Jamaica's contribution to the project was slashed by US$38 million to US$122 million because of financial constraints facing the country, officials said. The PAJ is responsible for the port infrastructure, while the cruise line has committed US$102 million to build structures such as the shops and restaurants.

In the meantime, Melville said Chukka Caribbean Adventures has set its expansion sights beyond Jamaica.

"We have two other potential countries that we are looking at," he said, adding that negotiations were taking place with the objective of entering Barbados and The Cayman Islands.

17 per cent growth

He said that if all went well, by next year, Chukka Caribbean Adventures expected to have a presence in those markets.

The 27-year-old company now operates in Jamaica, Belize, and the Turks & Caicos Islands and employs some 700 workers.

Melville said although there had been a general slowdown in the tourism market, the Chukka group had performed well as the business had grown by 17 per cent.

Belize, which Chukka entered in 2004, made a significant contribution to this growth, he said.

"We do a lot of business in Belize (and) we captured markets, and as such, we were able to double our employment," he said.

The business, started in 1983 by businessman and now former politician, Danny Melville, first offered horseback riding and swimming at Chukka Cove Farm near Ocho Rios. Ten years later, it expanded to Montego Bay.

Ownership of the business broadened in 1999 to include another partner, John Byles. In 2005, the company had a name change from Chukka Cove to Chukka Caribbean Adventures. It has operated in The Turks and Caicos Islands since 2006.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com