By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
IT IS critically important that the Bahamas as a tourist destination strikes the right balance in terms of its cost and the degree to which costs can be adjusted to be more competitive, according to Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) Chief Executive Vernice Walkine.
Ms Walkine told Tribune Business that there are “very encouraging signs” relative to airlift into the country ahead of Baha Mar’s opening.
“I think there are very encouraging signs already even without Baha Mar being open yet,” she said yesterday. “March has been a strong month for us, April is looking to be a very strong month and our summer season is generally very strong. July and August are peak months for us.
“If we can have a strong spring and summer, Baha Mar or not, I think that says a lot about the destination still being very much in demand. I’m optimistic about it and I think that we are going to be in a very good place in the not-too-distant future.”
Ms Walkine said there was an important balance to be struck. “We are not an inexpensive destination and we continue to hear that relative to our competition we are an expensive destination.That is simply because the cost of our inputs are higher than other destinations.
“The degree to which things like electricity can be reduced in cost, the degree to which we can achieve the kinds of economies of scale where we have significant passenger growth. But we’re generating a lot of non-aeronautical revenue through our commercial programme and other things; then we can start to pull back on certain fees.”
Ms Walkine noted that there are ways to work with airlines to help make the overall cost of a ticket to the Bahamas much more competitive. “There are things that we talk about a lot as a group in terms of what we can do. The airfare credit, for instance, was something that was implemented to offset some of the higher costs of travel to the destination.
“There is a reality that our costs are higher and so we have to generate enough revenue to be able to cover our cost and cover our obligations so that we can maintain these facilities and not have to borrow money again down the road.
“It’s a balancing act and its important for us to meet our debt convenants and meet the expectations of the users of the facilities, both the airlines and passengers,” she said.
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 8 years, 12 months ago
Most Bahamians know how Vernice Walkine got to where she is today....and let's just say that brains and political patronage played the lesser part in her meteoric climb. She (like Hanna-Martin) seems totally oblivious to the fact that the exorbitant cost overruns associated with the construction of our new airport have imposed on the commercial airlines flying into and out of Nassau a cost structure that is now perhaps the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Bahamians too, like the airlines, are being charged an arm and a leg for the exorbitant cost overruns. Just look at all of the taxes and fees now included in the cost of an airline ticket for the outbound leg of a flight from Nassau! The fees and taxes greatly exceed the airfare charged by the airline!! This certainly does not augur well for a tourist destination like the Bahamas, and may well be our death knell once Cuba is opened up to American tourists by the Obama Administration. The U.S. government is about as pissed off as pissed off could be with Vomit Christie and Goggle Eye Hubiggity's coziness with the Chinese government over the past decade or so. We Bahamians are going to pay a dear price as a result of our elected governments (whether FNM or PLP) having turned their backs on the U.S. which has traditionally been the source of more than 80% of our tourists.
Reality_Check 8 years, 12 months ago
Small wonder Baha Mar is in the dire straights it finds itself in today.....choosing to lie in bed with the Chinese as financiers and an equity partner may have been Mr. Z's fatal mistake from day one! Mr.Z unfortunately did not appreciate the extent to which the coziness of the Bahamas government with Chinese government controlled corporations would piss off (as you say) the U.S. government. Roles are about to be reversed for reasons of U.S. National Security Interests: The Bahamas will become the Cuba of yesterday and Cuba will become the Bahamas of old in the eyes of the still mighty U.S.A. Our dumb schmuck politicians have no appreciation whatsoever for what's currently being played out on the global stage in our hemisphere as a result of their corruptibility and failed foreign policies!
duppyVAT 8 years, 12 months ago
The tone that is being sent by Walkine is not very positive ............ hold off on building that high rise NAD airport hotel right now.
How many Chinese airlines will be landing on LPIA runways each day as of June 2015?????????? ............................ Pipe dreams ............... just like Bahamar
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