HBD Invests Close to 17-Million Euro in Sundy Praia - General Manager

HBD, the tourism development company, says it will continue to invest in hotel and tourism facilities on the island of Sao Tome and Principe to help preserve and enhance the ecosystem of the surrounding waters and islets.

It would also contribute to the sustainable development of its infrastructure, heritage, tourism, agro-forestry and fisheries and by stimulating the well-being, potential and creativity of its people.

Speaking to reporters in Accra about its operations, the General Manager of HBD Mr Manuel da Fonseca Barbosa, said in addition to investment in hotel and tourism facilities on the island, HDB has also financed the rehabilitation and modernisation of agriculture and staff training.

The company operates the Omali, Bom Bom, Roca and Sundy Praia hotels, which are located in pristine environment suitable for individuals who want to have a close encounter with nature.

Mr Barbosa said HBD had invested close to 17-million euro in Sundy Praia, a hotel with 15-tented villas on the edge of the ocean and surrounded by tropical forests with spacious indoor and outdoor areas, including private terraces, some with their own private plunge pool.

"Nature and style are enhanced by the original bamboo dining area where local organic produce transforms meals into an unforgettable culinary journey," the General Manager said.

Similar investments had been made to transform and to keep in shape the other facilities to provide comfort to clients and to ensure that they are close to nature as possible.

Explaining the reason for the establishment of the hotels in the Islands, he said, it was to contribute to sustainable development of the islands.

He said the hotels currently offered more than 600 jobs, mostly for local workers especially trained by HBD to deliver superior services to tourists to the island.

Last year, about 11,000 tourists visited the Sao Tome and Principe, an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the West Equatorial coast of Central Africa.

Mr Barbosa said HBD was supporting the recycling of plastic bottles on the island and so far about 50 tonnes of plastics had been collected and recycled into blocks for the construction of buildings.

He said the HBD was funding terrestrial conservation to support the tourism industry of the islands.

Sao Tome and Principe has a population of 7,000. Principe Island is part of the World Network of Biosphere reserves, a global programme to foster the conservation of biological and cultural diversity, promoting economic and social development based on partnerships between people and nature and encouraging green development options such as sustainable tourism and training for eco-jobs.

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