By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

GRAYCLIFF founder Enrico Garzaroli yesterday said crime was killing the future of the country, adding that he supported capital punishment.

Mr Garzaroli, who referred to himself as one of the first foreign investors to come to the Bahamas, explained that the negative reports on violent crime did not promote the country’s international brand image in a highly competitive market to more conservative visitors.

“With the crime, I wish they will hang these people,” Mr Garzaroli said. “They don’t realise that they are killing their future. All of these crimes, especially with the people at the US Embassy, a lot of these things are very negative. They don’t help us.

“Clients are coming to the Bahamas with less spending power, or they have money, but they are spending less, they don’t want to show off. It’s not like in the past, when people were blowing their money and showing off for everyone to see.”

Mr Garzaroli spoke to The Tribune after he was awarded Hotelier of the Year yesterday in the inaugural “Caribbean Travel Awards” by news website Caribbean Journal. The news site published an article acknowledging Mr Garzaroli and a number of other regional designations as the best in travel and the tourism industry.

“I feel great,” he said, “it was a big surprise. I’ve never won anything like this. This is out of the blue.”

Mr Garzaroli described his strategy as a balance of constant reinvention and maintenance of Graycliff’s vintage aesthetic. The property on West Street that now houses a luxury hotel and restaurant, cigar and chocolate factories, was purchased months before the country’s independence in 1973. During the 1980s, the hotel and restaurant were featured in the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and received a coveted five-star award.

However, Mr Garzaroli said there were several top notch restaurants in operation at that time, and for that reason he was constantly focused on reinvention to provide guests with new and diverse experiences exclusive to his company.

“We knew we had to do something to attract the people,” he said, “so we created the idea of the lounge, taking orders out of the lounge was something other restaurants weren’t doing.

“Then the cigars and chocolates became part of the experience. Everybody is saying that my food is the best, but it’s the same, some may like it some may not. It’s too common so I say ‘let me make some wines’ so people can come for wine, after dinner drinks, cigars, some people can come and enjoy the day with chocolates. Just creating alternative activities.

“You must never be too pleased with yourself or the people next to you. You say ‘oh I got my blood out today’, well I say tomorrow take two pints out. The clients can go anywhere so let them go out with the best possible experience.”

Mr Garzaroli said more than 50 per cent of guests were repeat clients.

“Try to reinvent yourself because the competition is always there and they will try to copy everything you do,” he said. “So you must always think about the next move, the next step. Pay a lot of attention to details, to everything.”

When asked whether or not he was concerned about the implementation of Value Added Tax, Mr Garzaroli said early challenges were inevitable, but he was confident the country would be able to catch up with what was now a global reality.

“For sure, there will be a lot of problems in the beginning,” he said, “and it will be difficult if you have never done it. But I think that the people so far that I saw in charge have been pretty understanding about the situation.

“Unfortunately the Bahamas is not what it used to be, the freedom from the taxes, but the whole world is like that now. The world has been changing so we need to get this thing into reality. For sure it will cause inflation, with taxes on bread basket items, but it’s always easy to criticise when you are on the other side, until you get there and then you’re not sure.”

With its newest addition of a heritage museum, Mr Garzaroli hinted that more innovations were scheduled for 2015 as the owners continue to develop the surrounding acreage.

“We have a lot of things,” he added, “we’re doing a lot of new things.”

The Caribbean Journal citation said “the venerable Graycliff hotel and restaurant has long been a model for hospitality” and had grown from being the region’s first five-star restaurant to a luxury empire.

“But Graycliff has also had a strong imprint on its local community, with a focus on highlighting the heritage of the Bahamas. Under Garzaroli, Graycliff hasn’t just become a world-class hotel – it’s become something of which Nassau can be proud, too,” the article said.