One positive effect of the pandemic crisis may be the resolution of a Cook Islands hotel fiasco that began more than 30 years ago.
When the construction of the huge Vaima'anga hotel complex was stopped by Italian banks pulling the plug on financing in 1993 it nearly brought the Cook Islands government down.
The landowner, paramount chief Pa Ariki, has been seeking other developers for the site ever since, while previous governments continued pushing for a major hotel to be built there.
The half-completed Vaima'anga hotel Photo: Jerrye and Roy Klotz
Now, as her lawyer, Tim Arnold, explained, the Mark Brown Government is backing a scheme that takes a large hotel development out of the picture as other businesses try to rebuild after covid.
"Secondly it has seen through mixed-use development, and in particular, embracing the idea that around time-share and other ownership models where people see themselves as owning a piece of the property and spending more time than perhaps than seven days, 11 days, or whatever - that we can de-risk the economy," he said.
Cook Islands businessman, Chris Vaile, is the developer of the project.
