Editors’ Note

Zhang Kuan co-founded Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate in 2014 to take advantage of the growing North American tourism market. He is one of the first Chinese entrepreneurs to create real estate projects in the Caribbean. One of his major projects is the St. Kitts Ramada which will cover 100 acres and will be the largest real estate project in the nation’s history. In addition to Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate, Zhang also founded the SCC Sports Car Club in 2009. He is an investor in EPGN Bulk Carrier Co. Limited and Hongyi International Trade HK Co., Ltd. which he merged into Galaxy Group in order to make it even stronger.

Company Brief

Galaxy Group (galaxycarib.com) is a leading conglomerate with its core business in areas including shipping, energy trading, automobile trading and vehicle maintenance, agriculture, and property development and management. The company has hotel operations in Asia, Europe, America, the Caribbean, and other regions around the globe. Its real estate division, Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate Corporation, is registered in St. Kitts and Nevis and is involved in numerous construction projects in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Some of Galaxy’s work in the Caribbean includes high-end residential apartments and condominiums, five-star resort hotels, shopping plazas and business centers.

What was the vision for Caribbean Galaxy?

I fell in love with the Caribbean at first sight. I am very passionate about traveling and had experienced different customs and cultures from all over the world before establishing Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate Corporation. There is no single place that can parallel with the Caribbean area when it comes to beautiful scenery.

However, there were many things that needed to be improved to construct high-quality hotels in the Caribbean region at the time I started the company. Soft service facilities were still incomplete. In order to improve the local tourism demand, the construction of high-quality hotels was the only way to enhance the development of the local tourism industry. As a tourist who fell in love with the Caribbean at first sight and, as a businessman, I knew that the only way to promote the development of local tourism was to build high-quality hotels. Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate Corporation was established to respond to this need.

Who were the founders of the company?

A friend, Qingmin Wu, and I established Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate Corporation together. As a founder of Galaxy, Mr. Wu is also the chairman of EPGN Bulk Carrier Co. Limited and was operating my SCC Sports Car Club before establishing this company. I was acquainted with Mr. Wu at that time and we always talked about sports cars and traveling, so we shared common interests with each other. He’s from Hainan Province which has led to his deep feelings about tropical areas. Each time we referred to the Caribbean, we were deeply attracted by the tropical landscape in the region.

Is Caribbean Galaxy publicly-held?

It is not a publicly-held company at present, and is still in the development stage, but we are thinking about taking the company public, although we’re not sure when this decision will be made. I currently prefer to take things one step at a time, slowly but smoothly. The initial purpose of creating this company is to improve the local tourism and provide more enjoyable experiences for tourists, so I think the most important thing right now is to run our own business well.

Do you describe Caribbean Galaxy as a real estate company, a construction company or a hotel company?

We are a real estate development company, but we don’t want to confine ourselves only to the real estate development business. What we construct and develop is not only buildings, but also the complete circle of life experiences. We want to not only give visitors comfortable vacation experiences, but also let all people fully feel the Caribbean flavor through genuine and diversified service. We hope to help more tourists experience the Caribbean and have their own love-at-first-sight experience. This is what I have always been pursuing and this is the dream I hope to fulfill.

How do you describe Caribbean Galaxy’s business model?

As I mentioned before, we are building a life experience circle. I hope that through our efforts, we will establish an ecosystem of service that is consistent with the Caribbean characteristics. We hope to provide this to our local and international clients with exclusive experiences within the beautiful scenery of the Caribbean while they enjoy our comprehensive and diverse facilities.

What attracted you to the Caribbean?

I love to travel and to share experiences with others. It gives me great pleasure to recommend areas with beautiful scenery to my friends. I hope they will experience the pleasant shock that I experienced in the Caribbean, with the beautiful scenery, simple customs and warm people. There is no reason not to share this with my friends and with everyone who visits our facilities.

What are Caribbean Galaxy’s current projects in the Caribbean and what economic benefits will they bring?

At present, the second phase of our ongoing project in St. Kitts not only extends the previous resort project, but also adds a conference center with five-star hotel standards, a spa, an advanced water park and a multi-functional large-scale commercial shopping mall and entertainment center as well as other multi-functional facilities.

I believe that the industries supporting the tourism industry have been vigorously developed and upgraded, and the local tourism industry will be even more vigorous. The benefits of the booming tourism industry are not just good numbers on a report. There are also soft developments that come along with it, such as increased employment and the spread and development of local culture.

From a development perspective, there are additional jobs that will be created at the facilities that support tourism and our business. These positions will have certain skill requirements that may not be available in the area. This means that we can offer more than just a job, but also professional skills training. In this way, the real economic benefits include completely sustainable economic and ecological environments.

We hope to provide this to our local and international clients with exclusive experiences within the beautiful scenery of the Caribbean while they enjoy our comprehensive and diverse facilities.

Beyond operating a profitable, growing company, what are your greater goals, especially in regard to the Caribbean?

Even before I started this company, I was deeply attracted by the local customs of the Caribbean. The original intention of creating this company was to help more people get to know the Caribbean and better understand and enjoy the charm of the region. We have already achieved good results in St. Kitts and have gained valuable experience. Therefore, we hope that based on these valuable experiences, we will be able to continue to lift the veil on the beautiful and mysterious Caribbean. We will stick to the feeling in our hearts that leads us to want to make the Caribbean more glamorous through more and better hotels and services.