Category: BHA News

The operator of Mandara Spa at Atlantis moved to quell concerns yesterday over the effects of its parent company’s voluntary liquidation — asserting the resort’s spa operations will remain unchanged.
…Continue readingAtlantis Mandara Spa To Remain In Operation

Hotels in New Providence and Paradise Island are projecting low revenue in the month of November, even as they prepare for higher occupancy rates than those seen last year as the North American Thanksgiving travel season picks up.

“Projected hotel occupancies for November are slightly above last year,” Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA) President Robert Sands said in a statement sent to Guardian Business. “While we expect higher occupancies, room revenue will be down.”

It’s a factor coming as a result of aggressive promotional packages now being offered to travelers, he said, in an effort for this destination to remain competitive in the marketplace. That move follows continuous declines in the amount of stopover visitors winging their way into the country.
…Continue readingBHA Chief Anticipates Higher Hotel Occupancy in November

The Ministry of Tourism is preparing to launch a near $300,000 initiative centered around a U.K. film project distinguishing the islands of The Bahamas in an effort to boost arrivals from that destination.

The project has already landed the ministry 150 applications from film makers in that destination who are eager to shoot the three to five minute films, from which 14 will be chosen to be shown in cinemas around the U.K. Director General Vernice Walkine asserts Tourism’s 14 Island Challenge could provide the Out Islands with much needed exposure the ministry just can’t pay for.

“We’ll never have a campaign to promote Mayaguana,” she told reporters yesterday. “This we believe is the most effective and efficient way for us to communicate that we have multiple islands… we’ve not done as effective a job in communicating we’re Abaco, Bimini, Eleuthera and so on.

“In the U.K. the perception is there is only Nassau and Paradise Island.”

…Continue readingMinistry of Tourism Launches UK Promotion

The next BHA Board and Membership meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 8th at 9:30am at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort.  Members please make every effort to attend.  A special…Continue readingBoard and Membership Meeting

The highly anticipated 2009 Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) Small Hotels Retreat kicked off in the U.S. Virgin Islands last night with a larger than expected delegation of small hoteliers, optimistic about their prospects in an improved 2010 economy.

“The small hotels of the Caribbean are the salt and spice, and yes – the heart and soul of our region. They are as diversified as our people and we truly believe this is where we stand out,” said Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Commissioner of Tourism for the U.S.V.I. in her keynote address at the retreat’s opening ceremony. “At the end of the day, this is the group that is vested in our community.”
…Continue readingOptimism At Caribbean Small Hotels Retreat

Some Family Island resorts have suffered a lower than average slow season, down some 75 per cent compared to last year’s 30 per cent occupancy levels, according to the Abaco Beach Resort’s general manager. Some properties have closed altogether for the two-month slow period.
…Continue readingHotel Occupancy Down 75%

The Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort has appointed André R. Newbold to the newly-created position of business travel sales manager.
…Continue readingSheraton Appoints New Travel Sales Manager

A major mixed-use resort project is projected to generate an annual economic impact ranging from $54 million to $90 million for the Bahamian economy, its principals told Tribune Business yesterday, adding that the 291 lot sales they have closed have brought “hundreds of visitors to Long Island”.

In a series of e-mailed answers to Tribune Business’s questions, Ian Moorcroft, one of the principals behind the Port St George project, earmarked for a site next to Long Island’s existing Stella Maris subdivision, said being debt free had been “critical” to its ability to weather the global recession and credit crunch.
…Continue readingNew Resort To Have Major Economic Impact On The Bahamas

There “is no question” that September, traditionally the softest month of the tourism season, was “weaker than expected” for the resort industry, the Bahamas Hotel Association’s president said yesterday, who has written to banks and utility companies urging them to work with resort properties experiencing increasing cash flow difficulties.
…Continue readingHotels Struggle With Slower Than Expected September

The redesigned Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) will have been one of the most complicated terminals in the Caribbean to build when completed, the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) president and chief executive said yesterday, but will still be cost competitive at only 5-10 per cent above competing hubs.
…Continue readingNassau Airport Costs 5-10% Above Rivals