By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
Baha Mar has attracted more than 18,000 job applicants since it kicked-off its recruitment campaign in mid-January a senior executive said yesterday, describing the response as “overwhelming”.
Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of government and external affairs, told Tribune Business that Baha Mar has received
18,286 applications since it started its recruitment campaign. The resort has hired in excess of 1,700 employees to-date, a number that continues to grow.
Mr Sands said: “I think the excitement in a large amount of persons interested in wishing to work at Baha Mar has been overwhelming. We will continue to review those applications. At the end of the day, our commitment is to employ in excess of 5,000 persons when the resort is fully opened.”
The number of applicants is more than three times’ the number of available positions once Baha Mar is fully open, a further indication of both the persistently high unemployment rate and Bahamians seeking what they perceive as better paying, more secure jobs.
Graeme Davis, Baha Mar’s top executive, recently told Tribune Business that reservations at the Grand Hyatt have “exceeded our expectations”.
Late last month, the resort revealed that reservation availability for the Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar has been moved up to May 8, some 2s days earlier than originally advertised.
An official ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the 1,800 room Grand Hyatt was held on April 21, with this past Monday bringing an end to the preview period.
Chow Tai Took Enterprises (CTFE), the conglomerate formed by the late billionaire, Cheng Yu Tung, and now controlled by his family, is the resort’s new developer and is pushing for a full opening in March 2018.
Baha Mar also includes a 300-room SLS resort, a 200-room Rosewood Baha Mar property, and the 694-room Melia Nassau Beach, which has been open for three years and operates as an adults-only, all-inclusive.
Comments
djgross 6 years, 12 months ago
It would be nice if Government authorizes release of funds to pay the 200+ expat employees who are owed earned salary and severance. End this discriminatory action. Bahamians were paid. How about us?
DaGoobs 6 years, 12 months ago
Now that the government has changed, you and everyone else in the same situation need to write to the Prime Minister, Minister of Labour, Minister of Immigration, your local embassy or high commission in the Bahamas and anyone else with influence to bring this discriminatory and biased nonsense to an end. If all else fails, you might have to try find an attorney who will pursue the matter for you on a contingency fee basis. I am sure that if the shoe was on the other foot and it was a group of Bahamians who had worked in a foreign country but not been paid, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have been pursuing it through official channels on their behalf.
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