Sept / Oct 2016 | Business View Caribbean

72 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - September 2016 73 also have Copal Beach Resort, another resort we’re completing,” says Lomont. “And that will have about 263 rooms and a three and a half acre pool. We are building a state-of-the-art hospital located close to our airport and Panther Golf Club, a private, 18-hole, Robert Trent Jones Signature Golf Course. Marina Vil- lage, which we’re developing along the beach by the hotel, is a full commercial complex - a town center so to speak. There are a lot of different aspects that we’re working on, the vision is pretty firm and the approvals for foreigners, and it offers a generous Retirement In- centives Program that allows Qualified Retirement Per- sons to move personal effects to the country free of all import duties and taxes. Because of all those obvious advantages, Lomont says that the company is in full-growth mode. In addition to the initial phase of The Placencia Residences, she reports that a second phase of construction will fill an- other 49 lots. “In addition to The Residences, we have condominiums at Copal Beach Resort, condominiums at Marina Village, additional lots and condominiums at the Panther Golf Course, and town homes at the Pla- cencia Residences Phase II. By the time we’re done, we’ll have about 2,500 residential components. We’re building an international town.” While most guests and residents at The Placencia now come from the U.S. and Canada during the high sea- son, because - according to Lomont - that’s where the majority of flights come from, the company’s vision is much broader and it wants to reach beyond its current market. But to truly become a year-round, international destination, there has to be a way to allow direct flights from Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and addi- tional locations in North America, to access the area. So, the company is building its own, privately-financed, international airport, just minutes north of the resort. With its 9,200 ft. runway, it is sized to accommodate today’s giant commercial jet liners, including 777s, 787s, 747s, and Airbus aircraft. And, in addition to boosting traffic to The Placencia and southern Be- lize, Lomont believes that it will help Belize’s general economy because the country will be getting a second international airport through private investment. “It’s something they very much like,” she quips. But The Placencia’s growth isn’t stopping there. “We