The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamas Speed Week Revival investors say this year’s event should inject $400,000-$500,000 into the economy and generate 700-800 room nights, with its president revealing they are hoping to “break even after not taking a salary in three years”.

Jimmy Lowe, while declining to disclose the level of investment in this year’s event, scheduled for December 3-8, admitted that organisers were working with a “really tight” budget.

“We have an immense amount of money in it now out of our own pockets,” he said. “We have not taken a salary in three years. We have been working free of charge for the Ministry of Tourism. It’s about building the event. We started with a five-year plan, we knew it was going to be a struggle going in, and to put a figure on the investment right now is hard to do.”

Mr Lowe added: “We’re operating really tight. We had to cut a lot of corners and staff obviously this year, like everyone is doing. That’s the biggest challenge we have this year, to see if we could get it to a manageable level where we won’t lose a lot of money.”

Mr Lowe said Speed Week injected over $800,000 into the Bahamian economy last year. “The last two years we have put a considerable amount of money back into the Bahamian economy in terms of all the rentals, the local help and that sort of things,” he said.

“Last year it was over $800,000 that we put back into the local economy. Everyone is on a short string this year. We expect it to be around $400,000-$500,000 going to people we’re renting tents from, casual workers, Custom brokers, you name it,” said Mr Lowe.

“If we can break even this year we would be happy. Going into next year, where we get racing at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, it’s going to change the dynamic of the event. Instead of having 30 or 40 cars we’ll have 70 or 80 cars. Instead of bringing a couple with each car, now you’re bring four to six people with mechanics, drivers and everything else.”

Mr Lowe said Speed Week organisers hoped this year’s revival would generate 700-800 room nights. “This year, we’re hoping we can do what we did last year. The first year we did about 900 or 1,000. Last year it was about 700. We hope can get between 700-800 room nights this year.,” he added.

This year’s event is set to have a record number of local drivers participating. “The event has grown every year. The first year we had five or six local participants. Last year we had about 10 or 11. This year we may have 12-14. We want to bring motor racing back to the Bahamas and have Bahamians involved in it. Hopefully we could use it more than just once a year,” said Mr Lowe.