The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Tribune Business Reporter

The Government has taken a "show me the money" approach with potential Grand Lucayan buyers at it works to open another part of the resort complex to support increased airlift to Grand Bahama, it was revealed yesterday.

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, and also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, reaffirmed the administration's position that the purchaser of Grand Bahama's largest resort property must provide proof it has the necessary financing to not only close the acquisition but also fund hundreds of millions of dollars in redevelopment work.

Speaking ahead of the full weekly Cabinet meeting, he also revealed that the Government is seeking to re-open the Grand Lucayan's Breaker's Cay complex in "a relatively short period of time" to help solve Grand Bahama's shortage of hotel room inventory. He added that airlift to the island cannot expand further without more guest rooms for stopover visitors to stay in.

With cruise passenger numbers some 188 percent ahead of 2019 levels for the year-to-date, Mr Cooper said: “We have provided significant amounts of airlift to Grand Bahama. We've been very deliberate and very focused in doing so. We've engaged Bahamasair that's doing flights from Raleigh to Freeport. There have been the Sunwing flights. We're looking to see how we can extend those to be year-round.

"As you may be aware, Sunwing was recently acquired by WestJet. This is going to be an overall positive for The Bahamas and for Grand Bahama. WestJet has always been a good partner. We've had direct services from Toronto and Montreal, as well as Calgary, on WestJet. We've been working with WestJet vacations.

"We have an office in Canada that's been working with them over the course of the last several years, and we've engaged them even more actively to get more airlift to Grand Bahama. There's Frontier, we're talking with Silver Airways, we're speaking with Bahamasair about additional routes as well. Air Canada, as you know, comes from Charlotte as well as Miami, and we're working with them to drive more airlift," the deputy prime minister added.

“The challenge on the island at the moment is the number of hotel rooms, and we're hoping that we'll be able to get Breakers Cay opened in a relatively short period of time to support the airlift that will come. Suffice to say all of our airline partners are standing by, and they are ready to support the island of Grand Bahama. The product is strong, our overall numbers are 96 percent of 2019; only 4 percent behind 2019.

"The cruise numbers are up 188 percent compared to 2019. So Grand Bahama is on the move. There's excitement about the product. People now realise that there is a significant level of excitement, exciting things to do and see in Grand Bahama, on the east and the west end and, of course, in Freeport. And this is attracting a significant level of interest from the stakeholders on potentially new partners.”

Mr Cooper confirmed that the Davis administration has taken a "show me the money" position when dealing with prospective purchasers for the Grand Lucayan. “At the moment we have significant interest still in the Grand Lucayan resort," he added. "We have taken the position that we want to validate proof of funding. And we are in the process of going through that at the moment. We've taken a 'show me the money' position.

"And, once we are satisfied, we will make further announcements. Until the end, we're going to continue to work through the process. And when we get to that stage where we're completely satisfied, we'll provide more information to the public. Suffice to say we acknowledge the importance of the Grand Lucayan to the economy of Grand Bahama. And the importance of the economy of Grand Bahama to the overall economy of The Bahamas. So we continue to work diligently."

Referring to a $300m eco-resort project targeted for west Grand Bahama, Mr Cooper said: "This is not the Ginn resort, to be clear, but that's in the pipeline. And we anticipate that in short order, or over the course of the next several weeks, we'll be able to provide more information. But there's nothing new since the last time we spoke about it at the Grand Bahama Business Outlook.”

Mr Cooper said the redeveloped Grand Bahama International Airport is still on schedule to be completed in 2025. However, the Government is still completing legal agreements with the five different entities involved in the public-private partnership (PPP) consortium.

He added: “We were about to begin demolition. That process is imminent at the moment. There are very complex agreements that are currently being prepared. The lawyers are working diligently as you would imagine. There is a foreign lender (UK Export Finance). There is a foreign airport concessionaire, the airport managers (Manchester Airport Group), there are local groups.

"There's a consortium of five different entities. And therefore there are a lot of legal agreements to be completed. That process is underway. The consultants are on the ground, and we have a meeting next Tuesday to meet with them to look at the designs. But the reality is the work has continued since we entered the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) during March, so the process is that we've entered the MOU.

"We're now completing the full set of legal agreements and designs. We're going to begin the demolition work shortly. Renovations of the air traffic control tower are going to begin firstm, and then we will go into full scale construction. Suffice to say the deadline of 2025 is still in play. That is a hard deadline. All of the parties involved acknowledge and are committed to this deadline.”

Mr Cooper also revealed that banking facilities will be opened in Exuma and Long Island to fill the gap caused by commercial banks withdrawing from those islands. “The issue of Family Island banking has been a concern for the Government of The Bahamas for quite some time," he said.

"We've been working with our banking partners. We're seeing the large Canadian banks pull out of the Family Islands. This is of great concern to us. Therefore, we have engaged the money transfer agencies who will work along with existing banks to ensure there are banking facilities available in the Family Islands.

"I anticipate that the bank involved is going to make an announcement soon in relation to its Exuma and Long Island mission. And we hope that as a result of the successful implementation of these plans in Exuma and Long Island, other islands would benefit in due course. That's all I can say at this time.”