June 24, 2010
It's been a very active month at Oil Nut Bay. We're putting the final touches on the 
Beach Club and recently completed one of the pools. The pool's waterfall and azure blue tiles look fantastic. It is great to see the design come to life, and to see how the pool's distinct zones will more than satisfy adult, kid and family swimming preferences. The team is doing a great job and I am very happy with the speed of construction and our progress.
In last month's blog I touched on one of our core strengths at Victor International --the multi-generational community. It's something that's a centerpiece of our design tradition, and is personally important to me as a parent. For this blog, I want to share how Victor International interprets the multi-generational concept.
At Oil Nut Bay, we talk a lot about how home is the catalyst for building memories that last a lifetime. This is not just a marketing brochure bromide. For us, it's a key part of our community design and master plan. It centers on creating a community setting that offers something wonderful for each member of the family. The entire community is designed around the concept of gracious living for the immediate family and extended family and friends. We work very hard to create an environment that encourages all ages (parents, children and grandchildren) to experience the natural beauty of the land 
through lifestyle and leisure activities.
When we began work at Bay Harbor 16 years ago, I remembered the great times I had as a kid in northern Michigan at family camp. My folks, family friends, cousins (basically the whole crew) came together every year. We had fun and adventures. The only downside was that it was pretty rustic.
As my career as a developer evolved, I kept thinking back on those times from my childhood. I wanted my daughter to experience that same type of connection in a place that would appeal to everyone in the family. And, I wanted a setting that offered casual luxury with amenities and conveniences that would give you more time to enjoy leisure and being on the water.
My daughter helped put it into perspective. At age 6 while we were on a vacation, she kept reminding me "...I need things to do." It was pretty obvious that we needed more than just a beautiful house to make the vacation a home run. That's how the multi-generational focus for Bay Harbor was born, and it's become a blueprint for the Oil Nut Bay experience.
With Bay Harbor, and now with Oil Nut Bay, we're evolving traditional vacation home ownership. We're taking the vacation experience and translating it to more of a life experience. We start with spectacular land, create beautiful homes and then find ways to make the experience deeper. The result is an experience that creates memories that stay with families for generations.
At Bay Harbor, we discovered that owners were hungry for activities -- programming they could share with their children. And we also discovered that everyone was eager to learn about the beauty around them. As Bay Harbor has continued to thrive, I'm proud of how we've helped transform vacations into life experiences.
The multi-generational family vacation has really evolved. It was a long-established element in the past. Think back a hundred years ago to the grand houses and estates at the seaside or in the country. These spectacular homes were places where families gathered to leave the demands of city life for relaxation and time together. That tradition disappeared from our lives for a period of time. Fast forward to 2001. The tragedies associated with 9/11 brought back a renewed desire to connect as a family.
In the travel and real estate sectors, you can see a lot of evidence of this shift. Families are looking to create their place in the sun sooner-- rather than later. Instead of putting off family vacations or vacation home purchases until the kids are off on their own, people are choosing not to wait until retirement.
- According to American Express Travel, "home away from home" destination experiences continue to be very popular, especially with multi-generational families. Some industry experts have even coined a term for this type of vacationing--"togethering." AmEx predicts that the multi-generational trend will build more momentum, especially as vacation villas offer comfort and activities that cater to everyone in the family.
- Virtuoso, a by-invitation-only luxury travel network that focuses on premium travel experiences, reports in its Luxe Report survey that private villa rental is booming. They forecast that bookings for private villa rentals will increase in 2010 over 2009.
We see proof of these trends every year at Biras Creek. During Christmas week, we have returning families that have grown up together and have spent every holiday together for 12 years, 16 years, even 20 years. The families all know each other and remain connected by shared life experiences and friendships.
We've also seen the same thing at Bay Harbor as families and friends come together on a regular basis throughout the year to enjoy time and leisure together. They are building memories that will last a lifetime.
Vacation homes are a great touchstone for families. As a parent, you want to be able to share the special things from your childhood with your kids. At Bay Harbor, some of the first children who vacationed in the community now have children of their own. And they're bringing the next generation back to connect with grandparents and friends.
The biggest thing that I've learned from Bay Harbor is that people want to spend time together as a family. In the new world of vacationing and tourism, the family unit is together a lot more. People want to enjoy activities with their kids and their grandchildren. They want to capture experiences and make memories. Whether it's going sailing or taking on new adventures as a family, or just having dinner together, they want to connect.
So, when we say Oil Nut Bay is a place where you can come together with family and friends to create rich experiences and memories, we mean it.
I look forward to seeing you at Oil Nut Bay.
David
May 18, 2010
Welcome to my first official blog entry. It seems fitting to begin with a few thoughts about why Oil Nut Bay is so unique. People often ask me why I selected the BVI as the place for Victor International's next resort community. And truthfully, the short answer is its incredible physical beauty. It took my breath away when I first saw Virgin Gorda and Oil Nut Bay. The combination of the light, the colors of the water and the dramatic topography of the land made my heart flutter in my chest. And that's rare for me. When the flutter effect happens, it's a signal.
But while natural beauty of the land is requirement for every Victor International community, it certainly isn't the only requirement. You need more than a beautiful landscape. We know from our experience at Bay Harbor, that in order to create a successful community that will thrive for generations, other elements must be part of the canvas. Great people, access to excellent resources and an environment that can support the ways people want to live must be present. We found all those elements here in the BVI -- and that's why I know Oil Nut Bay is a ground-breaking resort community for the Caribbean.
People are coming to the BVI. Even people that have gone to other Caribbean islands are realizing what a hidden jewel this place is. First, there's a stable government and high degree of security and safety. The financial services industry -- which is significant here -- has discovered that the BVI offers the stability required for their business. And you can feel how the stability extends throughout the BVI.
We also encountered a solid infrastructure here. By that, I mean the BVI government, utilities, telecom and builders have been tremendous partners throughout the development and creation of Oil Nut Bay. We've made excellent progress with our own infrastructure elements (fresh water generation, electricity, communications network) at Oil Nut Bay thanks to the excellent work of the BVI community. And frankly, I'm not sure we would have this level of success in other parts of the Caribbean.
The people of the BVI are another reason Victor International selected Oil Nut Bay. In fact, the most exciting thing about our creation of Oil Nut Bay, by far, has been the fantastic people that I've met here. The people who work at Biras Creek, our sister resort, are an awesome team. I'm convinced that one of the reasons so many guests return to Biras Creek year after year is because of our dedicated staff. I'm proud to call them my friends. And we keep finding that same caliber of dedicated people as Oil Nut Bay evolves. The contractors and the workers on site are an outstanding crew.
The other thing I'm thrilled with is the lifestyle here in our corner of the BVI. It's much better than I even dreamed it would be. I love driving my boat to work. It's an adventure. And everyday's a different adventure. It never gets boring, and it's a wonderful place to spend quality time with family and friends.
There are going to be many significant milestones happening over the next several months as homeowners move closer to completion of their homes and Oil Nut Bay's Beach Club and other facilities open for business. And Victor International is prepared for the next phase of the community's daily life. The Oil Nut Bay vision is the result of a 15-year study and search. We researched around the globe. We looked at many resort communities and asked, "What'd they do right? What should they have done differently?" And all of that research and benchmarking are paying off. We're taking the best of the best, and adding what we do best -- the multi-generational community.
Thanks for reading my first blog...keep checking back for updates and progress at Oil Nut Bay.
David