The Tribune

• Mega resort ‘very bullish’ on 2023 outlook

• First-half ‘might be 20% up’ on projections

• July 4 weekend occupancies strike 93-94%

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Atlantis yesterday said its year-to-date performance is “as good as you can get” with rates and visitor spending per occupied room both exceeding pre-COVID levels by up to 30 percent.

Vaughn Roberts, the Paradise Island resort’s senior vice-president of government affairs and special projects, told Tribune Business it remains “very bullish” on its full-year outlook and is confident that it will be able to preserve first-half profit and revenue gains that “might be 20 percent above” internal projections.

Disclosing that occupancies for the just-completed US July 4 holiday weekend were around 93-94 percent, he added that this momentum is carrying over into the upcoming Bahamian Independence holiday weekend with forecasts placing occupancy in the high 80 percent range,

Mr Roberts told this newspaper that the fact Atlantis’ marine attractions, Dolphin Cay and Aquaventure, are “fully booked” signals that tourist demand for the Paradise Island mega resort and wider Bahamas remains strong. And, while group business is still “down significantly from where we budgeted” for 2023, he added that there were signs of an emerging recovery given that bookings are still coming in for this year as opposed to dates typically 18-24 months out.

Revealing that the resort “wishes we had another 500 rooms” to better accommodate the post-COVID tourism resurgence, Mr Roberts nevertheless conceded that the loss of the 400-room Beach Towers - ahead of its planned transformation into the ‘Somewhere Else’ concept - had helped to drive room rates and associated yields due to the capacity reduction.

“We’re just coming off a very strong July 4 weekend where our occupancies were in the mid-90s, 93-94 percent. Going into this weekend, Bahamian independence, we’re still very strong in the high 80 percents,” Mr Roberts said. “July to August for us is typically strong because we have a lot of families and children with us here on summer break.

“For the next two months it’s going to be very, very strong. It’s definitely up over prior year, and even up compared to 2019, which was pre-pandemic.” While Atlantis is monitoring quieter “shoulder” periods, such as the first weeks in August, he added that this outlook could change rapidly given that leisure visitors, in particular, are booking more closely to their actual travel date than they ever did pre-COVID.

“We are seeing a booking window that is very short, with people making decisions within 14 days of travel. We’re seeing a lot of leisure travel and very short booking windows, although people with families are booking a lot further in advance. All of that supports the very strong performance we are seeing. We’re seeing 80-90 percent occupancies around this period, and that’s as good as you can get,” Mr Roberts told Tribune Business.

“We’re still seeing average daily room rates (ADRs) much higher than pre-COVID. In some cases they are up to 30 percent higher. It’s just very strong demand. For us, a part of it is we wish we had another 500 rooms. The Beach Towers is closed, but that has certainly driven our ability to yield rates.

“People are also spending more. Our marine programmes are fully booked, Aquaventure and Dolphin Cay. When we look at spend per occupied room, when we close a month it’s been up 25-30 percent compared to pre-pandemic. Part of that is inflation, and price driven, but people are also consuming more and spending more in the restaurants.”

Despite being off-target, Mr Roberts said Atlantis was also seeing signs of a revival in its group business - the segment of the tourism market that was predicted to be the last to rebound from COVID. While meetings, conventions, events and incentives were traditionally booked 18-24 months out, he revealed that the Paradise Island mega resort is presently receiving business for dates later this year.

“We’re seeing a lot of bookings in the year for the year,” the Atlantis executive explained, indicating that the group booking window has also shrunk considerably. “Somebody booked a group to come in October or November this year, booking today, and normally groups book 18-24 months in advance.

“Our group business is rebounding, and we’ve seen some pick-up in the year for the year, so that helps our occupancy too. We’re still down significantly on the group side from where we budgeted this year, and that budget was significantly below 2019, but we’re optimistic because we’re seeing a lot of bookings in the year for the year, and are seeing a good pick-up and build for 2024 and 2025. We have made some changes in group sales leadership, and are now starting to get good traction.”

Bahamians resorts traditionally generate the bulk of their profits during the calendar year’s first half as this contains the peak winter season, relying on this to carry them through the softer parts of the year prior to the Christmas season. Atlantis is no different, and Mr Roberts yesterday said the resort is confident it will have preserved its first half gains when the 2023 full year closes.

“Because of the seasonality of the business, we expect most of our profitability in the first six months because of the winter season,” he explained. “The first six months thankfully performed very well against our budget. We’re significantly above budget. June was really strong, and September and October, where there traditionally is risk, we’re happy about how those two months look.

“We expect to exceed our budget for this year. We’re very bullish on how we will close the year in terms of the first six months and what we can see in business for the balance of the year. On the revenue side and the profit side we’re above budget; I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but it might be 20 percent above. We’re hoping to carry through what we’ve got so far for this year; for the first six months. We’re trying to carry that through.”

Mr Roberts told Tribune Business that the Christmas and Thanksgiving 2023 periods already looked robust based on business that Atlantis has already booked. “We know our November and December period is going to be very strong because of what we have on the books already,” he said.

“We also, in November and December, have a series of events - Battle 4 Atlantis, the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, gymnastics and things that drive occupancy for us. We know that October will be strong as well. Typically we see a slowdown in September, but we’re seeing a lot of strength going into that month.

“We always have levers to drive occupancy in a slow period, sales and events. We think this is going to be a great year.”