The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Abaco resorts yesterday said business has rebounded to almost 80 percent of pre-COVID levels as they bid to overcome staffing, housing and utilities woes created by Dorian and the pandemic.

Brent Ingraham, the Abaco Beach Resort & Marina’s sales and marketing manager, told the Abaco Business Outlook conference that “the comeback has been very positive” despite being “touch and go” in early 2021.

“We have recovered, and it’s been very positive in terms of the come back of the business to Abaco,” he explained. “At the beginning of the year we looked at January and made predictions as to where we would be on the volume of business.

“We took 2019 numbers, looked at 2021, and made some projections that have been on target.” For 2021 to-date, Mr Ingraham said the Abaco Beach Resort & Marina had generated room nights sold and occupancies equivalent to 79 percent of 2019 numbers, while room revenues were at 75 percent of levels generated during the last year pre-COVID.

“We have seen the business come back,” he reiterated. “In January, February and March we were a little touch and go, but as we moved into the peak season of April, May, June, July and August, we were almost on target, hitting what we had seen back in 2019.

“We are projecting, forecasting, for September through the end of the year a strong pace. We’re starting to see the demand come back, people want to venture out, and we expect to end the year very strongly.”

Kerry Fountain, the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, who was moderating the hotel panel discussion, said preliminary data from the Ministry of Tourism suggested some 906,683 health travel visas for international travel had been issued in the nine months to end-September 2021.

While these figures have yet to be confirmed, he added that around 400,000 of these health travel visas involved travel to the Family Islands. Collectively, Mr Fountain said this meant these destinations were accounting for close to 40 percent of all health travel visas - an indication that the Family Islands have increased their Bahamas market share from the 25 percent pre-COVID.

Abaco, Mr Fountain said, is accounting for 5-7 percent of all health travel visas as the island continues its rebound from the devastating economic blow inflicted by Dorian in early September 2019.

Molly McIntosh, the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina’s general manager, was less optimistic due to the water and electricity challenges impacting her property. “Our room revenue for June, July and August was about 60 percent of what it was for 2019,” she revealed.

“We could have had more. We could have sold out if we had water and power. It did affect our room revenue. People want to come back, and we had to turn some away because we were not able to provide what was needed.”

Ms McIntosh said visitors have been “very, very forgiving” in understanding the utilities challenges as well as the post-Dorian reconstruction difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she added: “People are not going to be as forgiving for 2022. We need to be prepared, and it’s stressing me out. In Abaco, if they come once, you get them hooked and they keep on coming back.”

The Bluff House general manager said electricity was being restored to the property’s marina after the 40-slip facility was destroyed by Dorian. Many employees had also left in search of work elsewhere due to Dorian and COVID, she added, which had forced the hiring of younger workers who needed training.

Geoffrey Jones, director of marketing for the Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club, said the property will be “120 percent of where we were pre-Dorian in terms of ability to house people” by this time in 2022.

Prior to the Category Five storm, he revealed that some 180 homes for its members had been completed, but the majority sustained severe damage during the hurricane. “The reconstruction of homes has picked up drastically,” Mr Jones added. “By Christmas we will have over 100 homes completed for reconstruction. Sixty are completed, and we will deliver 45 between now and Christmas.”

He disclosed that this will enable Baker’s Bay to accommodate 1,000 people, including members and their guests, with the five-bedroom homes collectively providing close to 550 bedrooms. Mr Jones said the Great Guana Cay-based project was also “100 percent rebuilt” on its amenities, including seven restaurants and the 200-slip marina.

With 3,400 members spread across 340 families, he added: “Labour is challenging. Hiring is what is challenging.” Mr Jones said Baker’s Bay is housing some 400 workers on-site, all of whom have to be COVID-19 vaccinated, while also ferrying in another 600-900 from the Abaco mainland.

He added that some 65 percent of staff have been vaccinated, with Baker’s Bay incentivising this through the offer of a day’s pay. A further day’s pay is available if a particular department reaches a 70 percent vaccinated threshold. 

Mr Ingraham, meanwhile, said some 75 percent of employees at the Abaco Beach Resort & Marina have received either one or two COVID-19 jabs. Joanne Gates, owner of Abaco Buzz on Elbow Cay, said some resort owners were mandating that staff get vaccinated if they want to remain in specific jobs while others are not.

With Hope Town down 50 percent on available hotel beds compared to pre-Dorian and COVID levels, she said what inventory is available is sold out for the November-January period due to a combination of returning second homeowners and persons seeking to buy property in the area.

“I’m going to say that this time next year we’ll be 30 percent above what we were in 2019,” Ms Gates added. “With the new resorts coming to this area, we’re going to be between 30-35 percent above the number of sleeping rooms.”