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Business - Anchors aweigh setting sail for island tourism
WELCOME BAHAMAS - NASSAU, CABLE BEACH & PARADISE ISLAND - 2007
Business - Anchors aweigh setting sail for island tourism
Billions committed under government anchor policy
Most of the millions of tourists visiting The Bahamas each year are completely unaware that there is more to the country than Nassau and Paradise Island.
There is a lot more. The Bahamian government and foreign resort builders have been working hard, and spending liberally, to provide visitors with the opportunity to vacation on as many of the country?s major islands as possible.
In fact, Bahamian tourism is undergoing a major transformation. From Abaco, Bimini and Grand Bahama in the north to Mayaguana, Inagua and Rum Cay in the south??and just about every populated island and settlement in between??construction is under way. Golf courses are being built; hotels and homes are going up at an unprecedented rate and marinas, airports, roads and retail clusters are simultaneously being built to serve the visitors.
In all, some $20 billion in new construction has been recently announced, completed or is under way, says Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe.
?When I became Minister ? [May 2002], Nassau and Paradise Island were it. Grand Bahama was barely known, Mayaguana was not known and neither was Eleuthera or most other parts of the country,? Wilchcombe says. The reason? Most of the islands lacked the rooms to accommodate, or the amenities to attract, mass tourism.
?I?m looking for The Bahamas tourism industry to grow by about 15-20 per cent (per year) consistently from 2008 and beyond. I accept that this year we?re not going to see the growth we would like, but that?s because we don?t have the rooms right now. To get where we?re going, we need to expand the tourism plant,? he says.
In the near future, Wilchcombe anticipates visitors will choose The Bahamas over and over again, but they will not necessarily go to the same place twice.
?Tourists will be able to come to The Bahamas for their vacations every year and visit multiple destinations,? he explains. ?They have a chance to experience the nightlife and the faster-paced life of historic Nassau ? the opportunity to go to Harbour Island and walk along the wonderful pink sand beach ? to Inagua and experience one of the largest flamingo colonies in the world and see the beautiful flora and fauna in a way they?ve never been seen before.
?We are now able to create a dream vacation for our visitors, no matter what their dream is. Go from island to island and experience the beauty, the serenity, the romance, the excitement that each has to offer.?
The Bahamas? new logo, unveiled in 2004, is symbolic of where things are headed. Each element represents a different Bahamian island. Millions of dollars have been spent to develop instant recognition for the logo and for the entire country. Eventually, he says, television commercials and print ads will feature just a single island destination. That vision is well on its way to becoming a reality.
Building the anchor project idea
Since 2002, when Prime Minister Perry Christie took over leadership of the country, he and his cabinet team have been working hard to attract investors.
The government?s plan is to attract a major investor to develop a resort on each major Out Island, a development that would ?anchor? the local economy in each settlement. Wilchcombe credits Christie with the anchor project idea, but acknowledges that it?s a plan built on foundations laid by previous administrations.
First, there was Sir Stafford Sands, tourism minister in the United Bahamian Party in the 1960s. He is called ?the father of Bahamian tourism? because he identified the industry as being ideal for this small country with few resources other than sun, sea and sand, just a few miles off the Florida coast.
In Wilchcombe?s view, the task facing the country?s first Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, was one of nation building and developing a stable economy. From the late 1960s through the 1990s, Sir Lynden and the country?s next leader, Hubert Ingraham, sought to develop the country?s tourism product in New Providence. It was Ingraham?s administration that lured South African developer Sol Kerzner to create what is undoubtedly the anchor project for New Providence??Atlantis.
Migration and new opportunities
When Christie and his team assumed leadership five years ago, they realized that if The Bahamas was to maintain its status as a first-class destination, and if tourism was to support a growing population, they had to go beyond developing overcrowded New Providence Island.
No one expects New Providence to be unseated as the most popular destination The Bahamas has to offer, but under the government?s policy, more tourists will visit, and more jobs will be located in, the Out Islands. In other words, increasing the tourism plant goes beyond meeting demand?it?s essential to the country?s continued growth and development.
The anchor policy is designed to slow and eventually reverse the historic migration of Bahamians to New Providence, which is now home to two-thirds of the population. In the Family Islands, where most Crown land exists, many settlements have become ghost towns.
?It is extremely necessary for the success of this plan for Bahamians to migrate back out of New Providence,? says Wilchcombe, ?and it?s going to happen as a matter of course. Many people are just waiting for the right opportunity to relocate and these anchor projects are going to provide just those opportunities.?
And by opportunities, Wilchcombe means more than the thousands of jobs created in the resorts. With each new project comes the promise of many spin-off opportunities.
Farming in the islands, for example, will get a shot in the arm as the producers find themselves with a local marketplace to service. As the anchors bring attention to the various islands, it?s expected other investors will step forward with subsidiary developments; stores, restaurants, bars and clubs will be created.
The bigger picture, says Wilchcombe, is that all this economic activity will reduce the notoriously high cost of living on the more remote islands, and this will make living and visiting there an attractive proposition.
Big-name branding exercise
Already this development is happening and some of the world?s best-known tourism brands are taking up residence in The Bahamas.
In Abaco, Peter de Savary?s exclusive Winding Bay Resort formed a partnership with Ritz-Carlton in 2006 and is now known as The Abaco Club on Winding Bay.
With Phase III of Kerzner?s Atlantis project nearing completion in early 2007, attention is turning to the Baha Mar development on Cable Beach. Baha Mar has spent millions acquiring and renovating the property, including the planned relocation of a major road. The multi-billion dollar project will include a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course and four Starwood brand hotels and spas and a new 1,000-room Caesars Resort Hotel, including a 95,000-square foot casino. Completion of the mega-resort is slated for 2010.
Meanwhile, at West End, Grand Bahama, the local population is watching the progress of the $5 billion Ginn sur Mer?a resort and residential project that is transforming the western tip of the island and at the same time providing much-needed jobs. Since mid-2006, developers have been working the land, making it ready for the construction of 4,400 condo and hotel units surrounding a 20-storey tower, 1,800 single family residential home sites, two signature golf courses, private airport, mega-yacht marina, Venice-style canal and Monte Carlo-style casino.
Exuma is a prime example of how the anchor project policy can transform an island. The island of Great Exuma now has full employment and the population has increased from 3,600 to about 5,700 in recent years, due to the Emerald Bay Development, which includes homes, a yacht marina and a luxurious Four Seasons hotel. Since then, other projects and businesses have come along turning what was once a sleepy village into a bustling town.
Getting it right
As some projects have been announced, government was initially surprised that the plans, which ultimately would benefit the residents of the community, were met with opposition.
Baker?s Bay Development Company had to go to court to fight against a group of Guana Cay, Abaco, residents who were concerned that the 460-acre resort would damage the surrounding environment. The Supreme Court of The Bahamas sided with the developers and construction resumed.
Wilchcombe says government is being careful to make sure the proposals they approve are a good fit with the island and its people.
?You wouldn?t put a resort the size and scale of Atlantis in Rum Cay,? he says. ?That simply wouldn?t work. Instead, we have to consider what is best for each island. Sometimes it?s going to be a boutique hotel like the Four Seasons. In other cases even that would be too much for the intended destination.?
Rum Cay, with its population of about 300, is already on tap for an anchor project. Montana Holdings Ltd, the development company, has selected RockResorts to manage the resort operations on the $700 million, 870-acre development. Phase one, which began in the summer of 2006, includes a marina, marina village and homes. Phase two will include the hotel and spa, more residences and private clubs.
In addition to ensuring the right fit, Wilchcombe says research is required to safeguard the country?s environment.
?That sun, sand and sea ? all that natural beauty is what we are selling,? he says. ?It?s what attracts the investors here in the first place and ultimately what attracts millions of visitors here each year. We are being very careful to make sure that, as we develop the country, we are not doing anything that will harm what we were blessed with,? says Wilchcombe.
By all accounts things are going according to plan. The Bahamian population is largely supportive and developers are now clamouring to be a part of The Bahamas? future. Government is no longer being forced to grant as many concessions to attract visitors as it did previously. These days, says Wilchcombe, The Bahamas finds itself in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose.
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