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Elegant Hotels first property outside Barbados announced for Antigua

Caribbean group Elegant Hotels is expanding its portfolio with a management contract for a new 123-room property in Antigua.

The luxury hotel is under construction and is due to open by the end of 2017 as the company’s first outside Barbados.

This follows the $18 million acquisition and refurbishment of the Waves Hotel and Spa in Barbados and the company’s listing on the AIM market in London in May 2015.

The two deals add a total of 193 new rooms to the company representing a 40% increase to 676.

In a trading update this morning, Elegant Hotels said that while it appears UK consumer confidence is returning, political uncertainties in the UK over the summer were responsible for bookings for the current financial year “tracking behind” the same period in 2015.

“Given these recent booking trends, the board believes it is prudent to have a cautious outlook, with group revenue for the current year currently expected to be broadly flat in comparison with full year 2016,” the group said.

“However, management believes that the company’s core strategy remains robust and is taking action to respond to tighter market forces, with further sales and marketing campaigns underway, and a new website due to be launched in January 2017.”

Chief executive Sunil Chatrani said: “While the underlying market conditions of the last few months have undoubtedly been challenging, we are delighted to have successfully launched Waves Hotel and Spa, our first acquisition since IPO, and are looking forward to finalising the management contract for our first hotel outside Barbados.

“Barbados remains a beautiful place to visit, and we continue to be extremely fortunate to have a peaceful, politically stable and exceptionally tourist-friendly island on which to provide a high quality luxury offering to our guests.

“As a result, and notwithstanding the immediate headwinds that we face, we remain confident in the long term growth prospects for Elegant Hotels.”

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