It is unusual for a chandlery to win the award for Excellence in Tourism for 2016 but that is exactly what happened last Saturday during the award ceremony of The Grenada Chamber Awards when Budget Marine Grenada comfortably walked away with this award.

Budget Marines’ leadership has been solid and consistent over the past decade and Managements’ constant attention to detail and the staffs’ commitment to extraordinary customer service has resulted in loyal customers who make it their duty to return to Grenada every year to enjoy yachting. Nonetheless, Budget Marine has still found ways to further improve their way of doing business giving them a well-deserved win for the Excellence in Tourism Award organized by the Grenada Chamber of Industry & Commerce.

Budget Marine Grenada has recently undergone expansion of its store to provide a wider range of products for its customers. In response to demand from the boating community, the store has added 1200 Square Feet to its current retail space, providing an entirely new boat building material section, as well as 400 square feet of additional warehousing and much needed office space. This has resulted in an increased range of products offered as well as improved sales floor representation and service.

The company has also improved their customer service even further by teaming up with Spice Island Marine Services arranging training and preparation to create a service dealer partnership for products that Budget Marine sells, thus providing better before and after sales service to its customers.

On top of that Budget Marine offers a free bus service to customers located on the southern coast of Grenada which enables them to visit the store once a week free of charge in comfort.

Budget Marine does not only think about business but also its community, being a very strong supporter of Youth Sailing in Grenada. In addition to donating towards various events, Budget Marine has been the title sponsor of the largest fishing tournament in the southern Caribbean, the Budget Marine Spice Island Billfish Tournament for the past 6 years. To show their commitment to sports tourism in Grenada, Budget Marine has recently signed on until 2019 bringing extra activity and business to the island.

Nicholas George, manager of Budget Marine Grenada stated: “I want all members of staff to understand that we could not have been nominated much less win this award unless it was seen from the outside that we are making a considerable contribution towards tourism here in Grenada. It just shows that it doesn’t really matter the number of staff you have or the type of business you are into, once you go the extra mile to ensure that visitors to this island are treated the way they are supposed to be, you will be recognized accordingly. We are very proud of receiving this award and will be setting it up prominently on the shop floor.”

Affordable price range, outstanding leadership in the marine industry, tireless efforts to bolster the marine industry and that special bond between management and staff, making every effort to find solutions to problems whether marine related or not, has made this company stand out.