 Honourable Prime Minister of St. Lucia and will Philip J. Pierre, Minister of Tourism, Dr. Ernest Hiller, Minister of Infrastructure, Stevenson King, other members of government, the owners, the Mullen family, distinguished guests, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It is a warm afternoon but it's really good to be here as we witness the ground-breaking ceremony of Secrets St. Lucia. Thank you so much for being with us for this ceremony. My name is Nasseri Jolie-Fanis and I'll just be guiding you through this short program leading to the ground-breaking that is truly a very exciting moment here in St. Lucia. And without further ado, let me invite our first speaker to the podium, Ms Irene Predoux, who is the Regional Vice President of Commercial Inclusive Collection in the Latin Region. Welcome. Good morning. Good morning. I am Irene Predoux, Regional Vice President, Commercial Latin America and English-speaking Caribbean for the Inclusive Collection, part of World of Hyatt, representing the largest Luxorial Inclusive portfolio in the world. We are excited to be here today to celebrate this milestone. We are pleased to be joined by the owners of Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa, Mr. John Mullen, Mr. Jeff Mullen, and Mr. Matt Mullen, along with Honorable Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Honorable Ernest Healer, Minister of Tourism, St. Lucia, Emilio Hun, Regional Vice President, Operations, Latin America and English-speaking Caribbean Inclusive Collection, and Kailia Harrison, Director of Sales, Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa. I am thrilled to be here today to celebrate this exciting moment together. The development of Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa reinforces both Hyatt and Inclusive Collections on wavering commitment to growth throughout this destination, and this new resort is a benefit to the local St. Lucia community through a variety of opportunities. As a brand that brings sophisticated couples seeking a luxurious romantic gateway, Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa looks forward to welcoming guests celebrating life's special moments to this breathtaking destination. In addition to attracting new visitors, the resort will aid in providing additional employment opportunities for local residents. Located on this stretch of Pichor Perfect Beach and minutes from the world-class Rodney Bay Marina and the capital city of Castris, Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa will offer stunning views of the dramatically tapered mountains. Upon opening, Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa will offer 351 rooms and suites, with luxurious amenities including 16 food and beverage outlets, with six fine dining options and the world-class Secrets Spa by Pebonia. The Inclusive Collection looks forward to the opening of this elevated and well-appointed Secrets St. Lucia Resort and Spa in the near future. On behalf of everyone at Inclusive Collection, we would like to acknowledge and express our gratitude to the Mullen family again for their continued support of the local community and the beautiful islands of St. Lucia. Again we congratulate everyone on this groundbreaking today. Thank you all for joining us. Thank you for those opening remarks Ms. Prado and for giving us a sense of what this resort will entail. And now from our St. Lucia End, we invite the Honourable Minister of Tourism, Dr. Ernest Hiller, to offer remarks. Thank you very much, Ms. Resort ceremony. Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Philip J. Pierre, Senior Minister, Honourable Stevenson King, Pumlan Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, City Chairman of the St. Lucia Investment, investment Lucia, Chairman and CEO of St. Lucia Tourism Authority, the distinguished head table, especially the Mullen family, distinguished invitees welcome this afternoon to this ceremony. This morning we hosted a press conference, the Chairman and CEO of the Tourism Authority and myself, to present our media review on the performance of St. Lucia. In fact it was a little more than media, it went up to the end of July. And we shared with the media the good news that year to date our arrivals are 12% up on what it was in 2022. And even though we had a 12% increase year to date on 2022, we've had declines in both June and July. So it tells you if we had not experienced those declines, how significant our increases would have been. And you may ask the question, why did we have declines for the month of June and July? I think from very early in the year the CEO had warned us that the summer would be very, very tight. And she explained to us then that as Europe opened and fully remove all protocols for COVID and the fire is open, the scarcity of equipment that the aviation industry is experiencing right now would affect us as most planes would be heading to Europe and to the fire is. The airlines seem to have a problem, either you have no equipment or you have no crew. And the two of them combined have really affected the aviation industry. But there is still a tremendous demand for travel and Saint Lucia has benefitted from that. From July 2021 when we came in, we appreciated the work that had been done by the previous administration, but we decided to intensify our efforts and to really go out hard in the market to put Saint Lucia up front, removing a lot of the COVID protocols and embarking on an aggressive marketing campaign. And that has paid off. But like everything else, other destinations are catching up with us and it means now we have to go out in the market and to be even more aggressive and to even offer a better product than we have been offering. And this is where this project is of special significance to us. I must say to you and I have to be honest, we're very disappointed we're going to be losing a family option that we had before. But in place of that family option, we will be offering probably the most luxurious secrets option anywhere in the eastern Caribbean. So as we go out promoting Saint Lucia, we have another product of the highest quality that we can add to our portfolio that we can speak of. Today is not a day for me to give you the sales speech of just how attractive Saint Lucia is and all the options that we have for visitors who come in. But let me say to you that this Saturday, we will be hosting the World Travel Awards for the Latin America and Caribbean region. And we really honored as a destination to have been asked to host those prestigious awards. You would know that for the last few years, I think almost 14 years, we have been voted the world's leading animal destination. Of course, our big competitor is the Maldives. Last year, for the first time, we won the Caribbean leading adventure destination. And I noted in the nominations for this year, we are nominated for a couple of other awards. So if all goes well on Saturday, we may very well cop another award to add to what we already have. I believe Saint Lucia is an exceptional destination. I believe our people adds tremendously to our extraordinary physical beauty that we offer. So to the family, I want to say to you that the decision to invest in this property will be worth it. Saint Lucia is a woody destination. It is a preferred place for investment and you've made the right decision. The only issue we have now is how quickly you will complete this project because to remove 350 rooms from the bedstock is significant and it is affecting our numbers. So as quickly as you can complete the project, the happier we will all be. So thank you very much and once again, let me see if I look forward to the completion of the project. So in response, we now invite Mr. Jeff Mullen to offer remarks on behalf of the Mullen family and owners. Welcome, Honorable Prime Minister, Honorable Minister Hilaire, Honorable Minister King, members of the government, Chairman Arnold, Chairman Antoine, CEO Charles Jules and representatives of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, representatives of Saint Lucia Hospitality and Tourism Association, representatives from Saint Lucia Air, C Port Authority, members of the media and friends. Welcome to Saint James Club, site of the future, Secrets Saint Lucia. I am Jeff Mullen. I'm the president and CEO of the Mullen Real Estate Capital. I'm joined here today by other members of my family, my brother Matt and my father John, founder of the Appalachia Group. As well as our colleagues from the Hyatt Inclusive Collection and key representatives of our design and construction team, it's our absolute pleasure to welcome you to the groundbreaking ceremony of this exciting project. As was mentioned, this has been a long time in the making. As founders of Appal vacations and aim resorts, we have been involved in the Caribbean for over 50 years and we have opened dozens of hotels along the way. We first came to Saint Lucia 30-some years ago and were absolutely blown away by the island's beauty and rich national treasures. From the people to the landscape to the cuisine, Saint Lucia is absolutely spectacular. During a tour a few years ago of this property, we knew immediately we wanted to be in business here. So when the opportunity arose to acquire the Saint James Club, we jumped on it without hesitation. And as you can see, this property has tremendous potential and with the right amount of Saint Lucia love, we'll get there. Honorable Prime Minister, we commend you on the structure, the support and the professionalism of the team you have built. To name just a few, invest Saint Lucia's knowledge, support, and promotion in the Honorable Minister Helaire's unwavering availability when needed are invaluable to investors like us. We are aligned with Minister Helaire's initiatives and the promotion to promote guests exploring the experiences on the island and the economic impact it will have beyond the hotel, as well as his work positioning the island as a premier destination. Both of which are instrumental to Saint Lucia's sustainability. With the help of many people here in attendance today, we have embarked on a journey to convert an existing hotel into a secret resort and spa Saint Lucia brand. A brand we help pioneer defining unlimited luxury and romance. A brand that attracts year-round guests from the most important source markets. Today marks an important milestone in this journey. It's the day we stop drawing things on paper and start constructing them of the project. As mentioned by Irene, this property will feature 351 luxurious guest rooms in an adults-only environment. We are creating a new preferred wing with ultra luxurious accommodations and suites, all with beautiful views of Saint Lucia's breathtaking landscape and beach. Our project will feature 16 new food and beverage venues including six fine dining outlets. We're building a brand new spa which will feature the latest in hydrotherapy and wellness experiences in six new treatment bays overlooking the property. And finally we are undertaking a comprehensive renovation of the grounds including an enormous landscaping project with a specific emphasis on incorporating the lush beauty of the island in the character of Saint Lucia. We are also delighted to be working with a very large contingent of local professionals and construction firms to support the build-out. We are grateful to our general contractor Kodalpuhu. We have completed similar projects in the Caribbean and I am particularly excited that all of our architecture, structural and engineering is being done here locally in Saint Lucia and I thank our value consultants for the tireless work. Honorable Prime Minister, members of the cabinet and friends, thank you so much for this incredible welcome you have provided to my family as well as support you have offered for our project. The efforts of the Saint Lucia government have been essential in our acquisition and soon-to-be transformation as quickly as possible. And we are delighted to have the privilege to collaborate with yourselves and your agencies in this regard. We recognize that the hotel has been closed for a while and we are looking to get this property open as soon as possible targeting and opening in less than 12 months to get our employees back in place, create new jobs and support increased airlift to the island. We once again very much appreciate the efforts of so many people in making this exciting day happen and we can't wait to welcome you as our guests in the near future. Thank you. Thank you so much Mr Mullen. I have no doubt that your remarks have satisfied our Minister of Tourism and it's so great to hear that you have been satisfied with the partnerships that have come from our various entities here and they have worked with you towards seeing the fruition of this project but I'm not the one to respond. I now invite our Honorable Prime Minister, Philip J. Pierre, to offer remarks before we move on to the ground breaking ceremony. Thank you very much Mr Seremonis. We recognize the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Tourism, Dr. Udessile, Senior Minister Stevenson King, Poorman Secretary, Chairperson of the Senutia Tourism Authority, members of the Mullen family, invited guests, I recognize Mr Peter Foster Casey, invited guests, staff, good afternoon. In my business, he who turns the sword doesn't always cut the ribbon. Sometimes you are very fortunate. You turn the sword, you may even hurt your back. But when the time comes to cut the ribbon, other people decide that you're not cutting the ribbon. This is why it's very important that this hotel, we cut the ribbon in one year. So I want to assure the Mullen family that the government will do whatever we have to do. All we ask from you is to be fair, to be fair to the people of Senutia, to be fair to the workers of Senutia, and to ensure that Senutia is at the top of illicit priorities. The government will do whatever we have to do. We will obey the law and we'll create the enabling environment for you not only to continue construction of the hotel, but to build another one. My minister said that he's not making a sales pitch. I make no apologies, I'm making a sales pitch. My pitch is for you, although your hotel is called Secrets, my pitch for you is not to keep Senutia Secrets, to tell people that Secrets is in Senutia and they must come to Senutia to enjoy their Secrets. This is my pitch to you. I really welcome you. I welcome you to Senutia. I want to thank everyone who has made it possible. I want to tell you that we intend to continue to make the industry of tourism our largest owner. We hope that you can create the necessary linkages between tourism and the other sectors so that people can benefit. It's important that the people benefit. It's important that we give you an environment where you can benefit, where you can create more return on investments for yourself. So you can expand. Our people can expand and everyone can be happy. Welcome to Senutia and wish you all the best. Thank you. The tourism industry has been the main driver of our economic growth. Our first objective must be to build a sustainable and resilient tourism industry. The government will do whatever we have to do. All we ask from you is to be fair, to be fair to the people of Senutia, to be fair to the workers of Senutia and to ensure that Senutia is at the top of illicit priorities. Our second objective is to ensure that the benefits of tourism are cruel to as many as possible. We must create a framework for the growth of the industry that allows for more solutions to participate and own the industry.