The Karma Royal Group announced today the development of Karma Bahamas, which will be another upscale Karma Resort and the company’s first resort property in the Caribbean.

Karma Royal Group has entered into an agreement with the principles of Mango Bay Bahamas, the owners of Little Harbour Island, for the property to be developed as a Karma Resort. Karma Royal will assume responsibility for the sales and management.

“We are excited to add the Bahamas to our portfolio of Karma Resorts in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and Greece,” says Karma Royal Chairman John Spence. “Our resort on Little Harbour Island will enhance what is already an unrivalled experience.”

The island is stunning and is ideally located a five-minute boat ride from Harbour Island, the most exclusive address in the Caribbean, which has long been known as a  stunning and upmarket holiday destination and boasts many luxurious private villas of Hollywood stars, international celebrities and fashion designers. The island is also famous for its pink sand beaches, rich colonial history and the Goombay Smash – a killer rum punch.

Little Harbour Island is also ideally situated a five-minute ferry ride from the airport dock of north Eleuthera, which not only has regular flights to Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, but also to Miami and Fort Lauderdale (a mere one hour away). Indeed, this international accessibility means that clients can fly their private planes in from the eastern seaboard of the United States, with New York a mere two-and-a-half hours away.

Construction has already commenced on the island, where there is already the beginnings of a marina, core infrastructure and a number of completed and partly completed villas. When finished the property will comprise a combination of deluxe three- and four-bedroom villas, some with their own private beach; smaller one-, two- and three-bedroom townhouses; and hotel-suite units.

“We are still determining the optimum number of units on the island, but the likely number will be between 30 and 60, which will create in excess of 100 keys,” Spence says.

In addition to the marina, the property will have a full range of Karma-standard facilities, including a Karma spa, a range of restaurants, a gym, club house and full hotel amenities.

In tandem with the development of the property, Karma Royal will be marketing and selling property at all ends of the price spectrum, primarily on site, in the United States and Europe. They will offer a combination of traditional real estate purchase and a form of fractional ownership in addition to nightly rentals.

“This will be one of the first times that we have partnered with another company in a karma resort, and we see this as a key strategy for our rapid growth, enabling us to spread our wings and develop in new parts of the globe and to work with local experts and partners for mutual benefit,” says Spence. “Indeed, having spent time with the principles of Mango Bay, I am very confident that we share the same vision and goals for this project.”

Spence adds that he is “delighted that we will be commencing a resort in the Caribbean,” and added that Karma Royal is also looking at additional development opportunities in  Costa Rica, Grenada and St Lucia. “I am very keen for us to start to market in North America,” say Spence, “and indeed to market and promote our Asian properties there. I believe strongly that as the economy recovers, North Americans will have a strong appetite for the holiday products and offerings that Karma and Royal have… backed up by our sales and marketing skills and experience.”

ABOUT KARMA ROYAL GROUP
Karma Royal Group is Asia’s largest independent resort developer, with 17 resorts in India, Thailand and Indonesia. www.karmaresorts.com www.royalresorts.com.au
For employment opportunities e-mail royalmark01@hotmail.com.

After joining Karma Royal Group in September 2008 as Consultant Chief Financial Officer, KRG is pleased to announce such appointment has now become full time.

Gary has had significant experience in various leadership roles across multiple business sectors and geographic regions. His base knowledge is foundered on a chartered accountant’s qualification and he has held senior leadership roles as CFO, Executive Director – Group Development, CEO and Managing Director, Group CEO, Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Advisor.

Gary’s exposure to mergers and acquisitions, post acquisition integration and leveraging the best out of multiple acquisitions is seen as a core strength, together with his ability to cut across multiple business models and geographical regions. Gary has had success as a key member of a number of executive teams where growth targets and core objectives have been achieved and surpassed for sustained periods.

A proven track record in;
- ensuring financial health of entities,
- identifying and leveraging new opportunities,
- negotiating and closing appropriate deals,
- relationship building,
- business turnarounds,
- being part of and leading high performance teams,
- strategy formulation and execution of business plans and objectives, and
- experience across multiple geographic regions,
are seen as key strengths and we believe will provide a positive contribution at a strategic level to the focus and delivery of our vision.

Prior to joining the Karma Royal Group as Chief Operating Officer, Gary held the position of Group Chief Executive Officer for Roamfree Limited, an internet infrastructure business providing online solutions for accommodation providers and inventory aggregators.

Prior to joining Roamfree Limited, Gary enjoyed a 10 year career with, now Wyndham Worldwide’s Group RCI. Gary has held various roles with the NYSE listed company, but the most recent saw him hold the position of SVP and Managing Director for the Africa and Pacific regions for Group RCI.