Kempadoo has involved local people as much as possible: (Top left) a local fisherman; (Left) a farmer; (Bottom left) a shepherd
model being used by the large interna- tional resorts is not dissimilar to that of the plantation model of yesteryear: one of maximum extraction and exploitation. It’s very sad that after 500 years we’re still doing pretty much the same thing.” Intent on finding a new model and
a new way forward for the industry, Kempadoo drew on his experiences in different areas – NGOs, private sector, government – to create a vehicle which could achieve a sustainable change. To start with, he needed a suitable location. It had to be an island which was new and unpositioned in the tour- ism sector, without a strong branding. So this ruled out places like Barbados and St Lucia. Also he needed a govern- ment which would be supportive of a large scale development, based on a broad philosophic vision, rather than
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attached to a big, international brand. St Kitts presented the ideal oppor-
tunity. The government embraced the idea; the economy was in transition, moving away from being an agrarian, sugar-producing island. Tourism was yet to take hold, but the island was easily accessible, with a road running all the way around and flights directly from New York, Miami and London. “It is not the classic white sand type of island of the Caribbean,” says Kempadoo. “We do have white sand, but we also have volcanic black sand beaches and steep mountains – the new village will go from 500 feet to 1,000 feet, with beautiful views.” Kempadoo’s philosophy was to
develop the resort purely using local and regional people. However, as he got further into the project, he realised that he couldn’t meet all of his objec-
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tives unless he went international. So although he has used local teams for the building work, he had to look further afield for some elements, including the architecture. Bill Bensley, who specialises in tropi- cal resorts, was chosen for this role. “The international team have taken the development to another level,” he says. “Bill’s background is in land- scape architecture; he is focused on the externals, rather than just the buildings. I was really impressed with how he took the vernacular architec- ture of St Kitts and quickly distilled it into modern resort architecture, with a bit of an edge to it.”
FARM TO TABLE Kempadoo acquired 400 acres, which is equally split between a golf course and development, including four 100-
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