The Tribune

BY FAY SIMMONS

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS has enjoyed $10bn in resort development over the past two years, its newly-appointed tourism director-general asserted yesterday, with 60 percent of new projects creating minimal environmental impact.

Jackson Weech said The Bahamas was increasingly focused on high-end boutique hotels and smaller-scale developments, alongside niche markets such as yachting and boating, as it seeks to attract higher-spending visitors while limiting the environmental footprint of tourism across its islands.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit (CHICOS) 2026, Mr Weech said the country's approach is shaped by the need to balance visitor numbers against limited land mass and the ecological sensitivity of many islands.

“I think it's obviously a question of absolute numbers relative to, in very many instances, the small land mass of our islands, and obviously the ecological side of that as well,” he said. “So it's striking this balance between the two.”

Mr Weech said The Bahamas is concentrating on higher-end boutique hotels, which are smaller in scale, and tourism markets centred on maritime activities, which he said could reduce the overall environmental footprint while generating greater visitor spending.

“In respect of The Bahamas, there's a concentrated focus on high-end boutique hotels, smaller in scale, vertical markets that speak to yachting and boating, that to a very large extent reduce the absolute footprint, and by way of doing that, we go into a higher-spending dollar by our visitors,” he said.

Mr Weech added that the strategy also presents an opportunity to ensure more tourism spending directly benefits local environments, while distributing visitor arrivals across the country's multiple islands.

“That, in turn, puts on us the opportunity in terms of ensuring that more of that goes directly into the local environments, but it's really the model in terms of how, working in an island complex, in an island context, you're able to lessen that footprint,” said Mr Weech.

“In very many instances, it has to do with how we are modelling now the numbers that come in and how they are dispersed across, in our case, multiple islands.”

Mr Weech later highlighted the scale of recent resort investment, noting The Bahamas has recorded around $10bn in new resort development over the past two years.

“We have north of, over the course of the last two years, somewhere in the vicinity of about $10bn in real development in respect of new resort build-outs,” he said.

“To a very large extent, some 60 percent of those new build-outs are very, very minimal impact on the actual environment, and that is much more in keeping with the safeguards that we want when we talk about our environment.”

He  also stressed the importance of strengthening The Bahamas’ resilience against climate-related threats, particularly given the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian.

Mr Weech said the storm's economic losses were equivalent to almost a quarter of The Bahamas' economic output at $3.4bn, highlighting the need for both stronger building standards and nature-based protection measures.

“Mangrove restoration, as an example, where along our coasts, in so many of our islands, we're losing mangroves. It's an absolute buffer in respect of high seas and waves,” he said.

“So we have to combine both of them. Whereas we're taking care of the structural integrity, certainly strengthening our buildings and everything, we can't lose sight, more importantly, of the ecological component of it.”

Mr Weech said mangrove restoration is among the mitigation efforts that should remain a priority as the country continues to strengthen its resilience against climate change.

The comments came during a regional tourism investment panel featuring representatives from The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos.