Category: BHA News

With the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island experiencing an upswing in bookings, the company’s President and Managing Director George Markantonis said that unlike last year, the managers at the company will not be required to take a mandatory two-week unpaid vacation in 2010.
…Continue readingAtlantis Managers Spared Mandatory Down Time

After two tumultuous years amid the backdrop of a global economic meltdown, things are looking up for the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, said Atlantis Managing Director George Markantonis over the weekend.

…Continue readingAtlantis Bookings Up

ATLANTIS’S casino business is falling “15 per cent year-over-year every year” due to increased competition from many US states, its managing director underscoring the need for the Bahamas to reform its casino gaming laws, while group business for many Bahamian hotels is unlikely to return until “late 2011”.
…Continue readingAtlantis Casino Business Falling 15% Yearly

A FORMER Chamber president yesterday questioned whether the Government could “make the hard decisions” necessary to achieve its key objective of bringing the debt-to-GDP ratio down to 40 per cent in the medium term, and warned it was “in danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg” through the sharp tax increases on the hotel and auto industry.
…Continue readingNew Tax Increases Could Impact Tourism

THE BAHAMIAN hotel industry is facing a potential five-fold whammy, with the Government adding to increases in National Insurance Board (NIB) contribution rates, electricity costs and Out Island Promotion Board fees by increasing hotel room/guest taxes from 6 per cent to 10 per cent, along with an $5 increase in departure taxes.
…Continue readingBahamas Hotels Face Five-Fold Budget Hit

* Essential to Move Debt to GDP Out of Danger Zone

* Room Tax and Departure Tax to Increase

* Duty Reduced on Several Energy-Efficient Items

* Ministry of Tourism & Aviation Budget Down Over $2 Million

Delivering a somber message of fiscal constraint, reduced Government expenditures and increases in taxes, Prime Minister The Right Honourable Hubert Ingraham described a series of cost reduction and revenue raising measures today, most which are planned to begin to take effect in July once the new budget is in place.
…Continue readingPrime Minister Unveils New Budget Priorities

THE Bahamian hotel industry maintained its “stabilisation” trend during April, Tribune Business has been told, with average occupancies for Nassau/New Providence hotels up by 2.6 percentage points and average daily room rates (ADRs) some 1.1 per cent ahead of 2009 comparatives.
…Continue readingBahamas Hotels Industry Stabilising

Baha Mar has 49 “conditions precedent” that it must fulfill to consummate its $2.6 billion Cable Beach redevelopment, the Prime Minister confirmed to Tribune Business, the most important being to resolve negotiations with Scotiabank over its outstanding $170-$180 million loan.
…Continue readingBaha Mar Gets Loan On 49 Conditions

Despite recent news of U.S. airlines announcing surcharges for peak travel summer days, two Bahamian airlines will not follow suit and force passengers to dig deeper in their wallets.
…Continue readingNo Surcharge For Bahamian Airlines

A US court has thrown out a lawsuit filed against the developers of the $4.9 billion Ginn sur mer project, in which purchasers who spent between $525,900 and $1.37 million on acquiring real estate parcels had alleged fraudulent conspiracy, on the grounds that the Bahamas was the correct jurisdiction in which a court should hear their complaints.
…Continue readingUS Court Throws Out Lawsuit Against Ginn Developers