The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement leader Michael Pintard said he hopes the Davis administration’s new potential buyers for the Grand Lucayan resort are up to scratch.

Mr Pintard emphasised four traits a new investor should have.

“Well, one is the investor’s vision for the hotel should be fairly consistent with the overall vision for how the country in general, and Grand Bahama in particular, how we wish to brand ourselves as a tourist destination,” Mr Pintard said. “So it should be a project that is sensitive to the local environment.”

“The second thing apart from the environmental component is it should be infused with Bahamian culture in aspects of the design that they call in terms of some of what adorns the walls or design surrounding the property, the sounds that people hear that is the music, the cuisine should be an integral part of it.

“The third thing is the developer must not only have adequate resources to purchase, but tremendous resources to invest in the refurbishment because it is conceivable that there could be a lower purchase price that’s not completely off the table. But it really depends on what’s going to be the dollar figure you eventually invest in the property.

“And then the final thing I will mention, though there are others, is that we’re looking for hoteliers, operators and owners who also appreciate Bahamians are interested in ownership and so there are certain amenities in the hotel that should be reserved for Bahamians, particularly the water spots.

“They should have access to the stores that’s going to make up the promenade, where the stores would be located, so that Bahamians are not merely observers and employees or patrons but they are also owners of certain amenities that would be made available in the hotel,” he said.

Mr Pintard also questioned whether the government is considering potential buyers that were shortlisted in the past, given the previous administration vetted them.

“We knew when we were in the chair,” he said, “the then Grand Lucayan Holdings had a number of potential buyers that were looking at the hotel. It would be helpful if the government would indicate whether or not it has gone through the historical list and have shortlisted any of those persons or have all of them been explored and discarded. Who makes up the new list of potential investors in the property?

“The public that did a lot of the vetting of the groups that were on the shortlist and could have told as they did in the public domain, the government, the misgivings some segments of the public had with the last company that the government had settled on. There was clear commentary in the public domain that raised the red flag, so it is in the government’s interest to be transparent.”

In November 2022, the $100m sale of the Grand Lucayan to Electra America Hospitality Group collapsed.

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper has said he would not disclose information about the sale process until a deal has been secured.

“We hope that this hotel deal or potential deal becomes a kind of a cautionary tale or case study for emerging policymakers,” Mr Pintard said.