Grenada

Grenada is an island nation in the southeastern Caribbean Sea including the southern Grenadines. Grenada is the second-smallest independent country in the Western Hemisphere (after Saint Kitts and Nevis). It is located north of Trinidad and Tobago, and south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The recorded history of Grenada begins in 1498, when Christopher Columbus first sighted the island and gave it the alias Conception Island, and later called it Granada. At the time the Island Caribs (Kalinago) lived there and called it knouhogue. The Spaniards did not permanently settle in Camerhogue. Later the English failed their first settlement attempts, but the French fought and conquered Grenada from the Caribs circa 1650. At one point many Caribs leaped to their death near Sauteurs, a present day northern town in Grenada; the Caribs opted not to be captives of the French. Subsequently, this resulted in warfare between the Caribs of present day Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the French invaders. The French took control of Camerhogue and named the new French colony Grenade. The colony was ceded to the United Kingdom in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris. Grenada was made a Crown Colony in 1877.

In 2004, the island after being hurricane free for 49 years, was directly hit by Hurricane Ivan (September 7). Ivan struck as a Category 4 hurricane and caused 90 percent of the homes to be damaged or destroyed. The following year, 2005, Hurricane Emily (July 14) a Category 2 hurricane struck the northern part of the island, causing an estimated USD $110 million (EC$ 297 million) worth of damage. This was much less damage than Ivan had caused.

Grenada has recovered with remarkable speed, due to her climate and the resilience of her people combined with much needed help from her neighbours, and financing from the world at large. By December 2005, 96% of all hotel rooms were to be open for business and to have been upgraded in facilities and strengthened to an improved building code. The agricultural industry and in particular the nutmeg industry suffered serious losses, but that event has begun changes in crop management and it is hoped that as new nutmeg trees gradually mature, the industry will return to its pre-Ivan position as a major supplier in the western world.

In April 2007, Grenada will jointly host (along with several other Caribbean nations) the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The national stadium has been upgraded and repaired since the hurricane, with the aid of over 300 Chinese labourers supplied by China in a bid to win influence in the region.

Ski resorts

Beach resorts

St. George's - Grenada Grand Beach, Mariposa Beach Resort, Spice Island Beach Resort, Coyaba Beach Resort, Morne Rouge Beach, La Sagesse Beach, Bathway Beach, Levera Beach, Sauteurs Beach, Bathways Beach

Spa resorts

Cabier Ocean Lodge, La Source, Allamanda Beach Resort & Spa, Spice Island Beach Resort

Golf regions

Caribbean Breeze, Grenada Country Club