The Tribune

• Mega resort hails ‘all-time record’ March

• Move on still-closed resort is ‘imminent’

• Atlantis closes on Royal Towers finish

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Baha Mar’s president yesterday hailed an “extraordinary first quarter” and “record March”, with 2023 business volumes up 20 percent year-over-year, as he revealed plans to redevelop the still-closed Melia resort will be unveiled imminently.

Graeme Davis did not provide any details on how Baha Mar’s owner, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (Bahamas), plans to revamp the 694-room property that was closed more than two years ago as he touted the average 90 percent occupancy achieved across its three major resort brands during March.

“[There] are ongoing discussions with the Government on our Melia project next door,” he told a Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) directors meeting. “We look forward to hopefully announcing that very soon so stay tuned for our next report.”

Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior-vice president of administration and external relations, subsequently told Tribune Business that an announcement may come even sooner. Declining to provide specifics on CTFE’s plans, he said: “Hopefully he’ll [Mr Davis] be able to make an announcement on that in the next week or two. It is imminent.”

The Government has been pushing owners of still-closed New Providence resort properties, especially the Melia and British Colonial, to re-open as rapidly as possible and relieve the island’s present room inventory shortage which has resulted from post-COVID demand exceeding present capacity.

The room inventory shortage has helped drive up rates and yields, but Dr Kenneth Romer, the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation’s deputy director-general recently revealed it has been impossible to find beds for passengers on flights that have either been diverted to, or delayed in, Nassau.

CTFE, also Baha Mar’s owner, is also behind the initial renovation schedule it set out for the Melia when it announced the property’s closure in mid-February 2021. It said then that the resort will close for two years to undergo a $100m renovation via a project that was to create some 150 construction jobs.

It added that the seven-acre, 694-room resort, which also featured 32 suites, was to undergo “a complete transformation” with rooms, common areas, restaurants and bars, and outdoor spaces including three freshwater pools included in the renovations. The property was to re-open in 2023, which now seems unlikely.

Meanwhile, Baha Mar’s president said: “We’ve had an extraordinary first quarter here at Baha Mar across all our brands. I’m pleased to announce that, certainly from a first quarter standpoint, we’re up 45 percent year-over-year.”

Mr Davis conceded that the first three months of 2023 were up against slightly weaker prior year comparatives because of the Omicron COVID variant “break-out” that occurred in early 2022, but added that Baha Mar has “seen a significant amount of demand” for each of its Grand Hyatt, Rosewood and SLS resort properties.

“We hit in March an all-time record for the property,” he explained. “Just 90 percent would be the round-up for occupancy across all three brands, with the Hyatt actually exceeding [that]. Again, a record month. The pace for the rest of the year looks very strong. We’re right now up 20 percent year-over-year in volume for 2023 over 2022.

“Our restaurants remain strong. We continue to see group business and the bookings, even for next year into 2024, are well over any prior years. Looking at the future, 2024 is still quite strong on the group booking side. The leisure business, it’s not seeing any slowdown, particularly with the summer months. We’re starting to see that window of bookings come in. There’s a little bit of a slowdown in May but nothing concerning. The summer looks very bright.”

Noting that Baha Mar will host the Derek Jeter Foundation tournament, named after the MLB baseball legend, on May 8 through that weekend, Mr Davis added: “All in all, good news” as the Cable Beach property celebrates its sixth anniversary. Similar sentiments were voiced by Jackson Weech, Atlantis’ general manager of operations, who said the Paradise Island mega resort is “very near to completion” on the renovation of all 1,200 rooms at its Royal Towers.

“I’m in the enviable position of being able to report a similar type of performance as it relates to Atlantis, with ADR (average daily room rate) occupancy and room revenue having all exceeded expectations thus far for 2023. The achieved occupancies and room revenues certainly continue to pace ahead of 2019. 

“We’re particularly encouraged by an uptick in group bookings, and can also report in so far as our marina business is concerned there is evidence of really healthy growth there. On the product side, we continue with our renovations at Royal Towers. That continues unabated, and we are coming very, very near to completion of our renovation of all 1,200 rooms now,” Mr Weech continued.

“Construction and build-out of new dining venues continues at our casino, The Cove and Aquaventure. Looking through the third quarter, and certainly through to the fourth quarter, the pace of business continues to be robust and certainly the pace of bookings continues to be encouraging. In general, a very good picture and it’s our we’ll continue in a positive vein.”

Vernice Walkine, chief executive and president of Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) operator, said The Bahamas’ main stopover aviation gateway had recovered to around 92 percent of pre-COVID passenger volumes during the 2023 first quarter.

The airport saw 314,732 passengers pass through during January 2023, a figure that represented 94 percent of the volume handled during the same month in 2019 when 334,320 travellers moved through. February and March had returned to 92 percent and 89 percent of 2019 levels, respectively, and the quarter was some 43 percent up on 2022 figures.

Ms Walkine said air traffic movements at LPIA over the Easter holiday, which include take-offs and landings, totalled almost 3,000 and were up 3 percent year-over-year. She added that the peak travel period was handled “quite efficiently”, with LPIA, air traffic control and fixed base operators (FBOs) all working together to manage the traffic flow.