At the Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS) — the region’s premier hospitality investment conference — industry leaders convened to address the question that increasingly defines Caribbean development: how do governments and private capital collaborate to finance transformational projects at scale?

The answer, examined during the panel “Public/Private Track: Financing Opportunities Working with the Public Sector,” reflects a maturing region — one where the most successful developments increasingly emerge from disciplined alignment between government priorities, institutional investment, and local execution.

The Panel

Moderated by Robert MacLellan, Managing Director of MacLellan & Associates, the discussion brought together an accomplished panel of leaders across government, development, hospitality, and international finance:

• Roland “Andy” Burrows — Chief Investment Officer, Bermuda Tourism Authority
• Adam Greenfader — Managing Principal, AG&T
• Warren Newfield — Principal, Kimpton Kawana Bay
• John Perrottet — Senior Tourism Specialist, World Bank Group

The Conversation

The panel examined how public-private partnerships (PPPs) are unlocking Caribbean investment across hospitality, tourism infrastructure, and mixed-use development.

Topics included:

• Government investment incentives and how they can be structured to attract long-term institutional capital without distorting market fundamentals
• The role of development finance institutions — including the World Bank Group and regional lenders — in providing patient capital and technical expertise
• Innovative capital structures that combine sovereign guarantees, tax credits, and private equity to make challenging projects financeable
• Lessons from projects across the region — including Bermuda, Grenada, and other markets where public-private frameworks have delivered measurable outcomes

A recurring theme: successful developments require more than capital. They require collaboration among governments, developers, lenders, and local communities — often extending over years of planning, negotiation, and refinement.

What Institutional Capital Wants

The panel highlighted an increasingly important shift in how global capital evaluates Caribbean opportunities.

Institutional investors now expect the same rigor they apply in North American and European markets — transparent legal frameworks, clear regulatory processes, credible government partners, and long-term policy stability. Caribbean jurisdictions that meet these standards are seeing measurably lower costs of capital and stronger deal flow.

The implication is significant: the region’s competitiveness for tourism and infrastructure investment increasingly depends less on individual project incentives and more on the quality of institutional partnerships that surround them.

AG&T’s Perspective

For AG&T, these conversations reflect more than three decades of advising governments, institutional investors, developers, and hospitality operators throughout the Caribbean. Navigating the intersection of public policy and private investment has become an essential component of delivering successful projects — from Puerto Rico’s federal reconstruction programs to Sint Maarten’s luxury hospitality expansion and Bermuda’s institutional-grade destination strategy.

As Caribbean nations continue investing in tourism, infrastructure, climate resilience, and economic diversification, public-private partnerships will remain one of the most powerful tools for attracting capital and creating sustainable long-term growth.

The conversation at CHRIS reflected a maturing region — one increasingly ready to compete alongside the world’s most sophisticated investment markets.

AG&T is a Caribbean real estate capital advisor founded in 1998. Principal-led, AG&T has been involved in over 55 development projects across Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and other Caribbean markets — connecting institutional capital with regional opportunity. Contact us to discuss Caribbean hospitality, infrastructure, and public-private development.