The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Family Island hotelier yesterday said Christmas business volumes were “off 50 percent” at his property as he voiced fears that "vaccination paralysation” will hit the travel market in early 2021.

Jeff Birch, owner/operator of the Small Hope Bay Lodge in Fresh Creek, Andros, told Tribune Business that “everything” segment at his resort - both hotel accommodations and restaurant - was down by 50 percent over the festive period.

Pessimistic about New Year prospects, with 85 percent of business traditionally originating from the US, Mr Birch said “vaccination paralysation” may result from persons preferring to wait at home for a COVID-19 cure rather than risking early 2021 travel. "Because the vaccine is on the horizon people would prefer to wait to travel," he added.

"If we don’t have 'vaccination paralysation' then we are looking at 30 to 50 percent of what normal occupancy would have been for February to April. January is dead, but it is usually slow for us anyway, but we are looking for 50 percent off from the normal in the months during February to April."

Mr Birch said high unemployment and reduced incomes in The Bahamas' major source markets may also depress travel demand. He said: “How many families are going to get spring breaks this year, because people are working from home? The Spring time is normal family time, and their travel patterns may shift, so will we even get those families?”

Natajia Miller, general manager of Embrace Resort on Staniel Cay, Exuma, said: “I was fully booked for the Christmas season. We had a lot of last minute bookings. Usually people in Staniel Cay are booking six months or a year out.

"So when people call in October, usually it's like, sorry, but we've been booked out for the last two months for this Christmas season. This year I was a little worried due to the pandemic over the last nine months because our occupancy was between 10 percent and 15 percent.”

Ms Miller said the 15 percent occupancy rate was much better than many other Exuma resorts, and added: “Establishments, like the yacht club that have been around for 60 years, thank God that they have repeat guests that have been coming for generations.”

Embrace Resort has been in business for 10 years, and Ms Miller continued: "High-end places have been booming, like some of the high-end properties that are like $2,500 and above, because their clientele is not as affected by COVID-19 as we are. These people are people that own yachts and have businesses.

“But for us, I was just praying the whole season. It is already December 1 and we still have availability; what is this? What's going on? But now we're fully booked."

Ms Miller said Embrace Resort has been pushing visitors to vacation rentals to add additional space, but it still has a “waiting list”. She added: “We are booked into the New Year, thank God, because Staniel Cay has always been blessed in that way. I think that now everything is much more settled, people know what to expect, and there is better communication now.”

Philip Smith, Compass Point's general manager, said: “This was a terrible Christmas, for sure. We get a healthy amount of visitors from Europe, as about 12 percent to 15 percent of our guests come from there.

"But a lot of Europe is shutting down. Not only are they shutting down, but when they do reopen, will they be able to travel? There are some restrictions they have that when they get back home, they have got to then quarantine. So all of this is a deterrent for them.”

Mr Smith said similar restrictions also apply to Canadians, which leaves him with only the Americans who “definitely will come” but not in the numbers he is accustomed to. He does not expect the presently low tourism arrivals numbers to pick up until late autumn 2021.