Baha Mar to Undergo $38M in Property Improvements
Baha Mar is set to undergo $38 million in capital improvements despite being in the red for March, year-on-year.
Graeme Davis, president of Baha Mar, said at the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) directors and membership meeting yesterday, that his resort is “nine percent in the red” year-on-year, compared to last March, but for April they are up by eight percent year-on-year, shifting into the full brunt of the Easter holiday season.
Davis added: “We’re cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the year. With what’s happening in the United States, there’s uncertainty. We’re very, very cautious about what’s happening out there, and with the economy in the US, with the Canada noise that’s happening with the potential of shifting tourism away from the United States, there is some potential upside with Canadian business down to The Bahamas.”
There is optimism that Canadian travelers would make Baha Mar their destination of choice, but Davis cautioned that “We have not seen that thus far.”
Davis continued: “We’re closely monitoring our geographic origins and noticing that there’s not a big bump at this moment, not going forward, or at this time, from Canada, but we’re continuing to monitor, and again, being cautiously optimistic about what’s happening in the US.”
Davis said notwithstanding the uncertainty of the resort’s performance moving forward, Baha Mar will invest upwards of $38 million in capital improvements around the property.
Jackson Weech, president of the BHTA and vice-president and general manager of operations at Atlantis, said: “Insofar as Atlantis is concerned, certainly the first two months of the year – January, February specifically – we will say were strong.
“We did not quite meet budgetary expectations. Travelers are cautious, they’re spending less and the booking windows are definitely shorter.”
Weech continued: “March is showing very strong performance. Occupancies are north of 90 percent over our entire campus. The good news is that that shows strong seasonal demand.
“Our forward-looking picture specific to the major religious holidays, shows occupancies again at this juncture, across the campus, well into the nineties with a sustained booking momentum.
“Interestingly enough, and fortunately, our marina operations have also shown rather robust continued growth over the last two months, and certainly well into the second quarter.
“Recent booking trends have been positive, and that’s reflected in a good trajectory in terms of demand.”
Weech also shared concerns about the uncertainty in the US market, saying that Atlantis’ third iteration of its Wine and Food Festival helped a lot with boosting occupancies.
Source: The Nassau Guardian
