The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

GRAND BAHAMA restaurant operators yesterday warned they are being pushed to the brink by weak visitor traffic and rising costs, with some cutting staff and questioning how much longer they can remain open.

Cleveland, owner-operator of Cleveland’s Beach Club, said his restaurant has managed to remain open because he and his wife operate the business themselves with only a handful of employees, but added that the wider Freeport business environment is “dead” and needs more visitor traffic.

“Things are dead right now. Things aren’t happening in Freeport. Freeport is dead,” said Mr Cleveland. He added that keeping payroll costs low has helped his business survive conditions that are proving increasingly difficult for other operators.

“I’m kind of different because I’m the owner-operator. It’s me and my wife, so we can take it,” he said. “We have about four people sometimes, but we get by okay. If four or five people come in, sometimes that’s enough to break the payroll.”

His comments come as another Port Lucaya restaurant operator, who asked not to be identified, said the area has become “like a ghost town” and warned that the business is now struggling with the possibility of having to close.

The operator said rising costs and weak business have already forced the restaurant to reduce staff schedules and let some employees go. “We’ve had to cut back our staff. We’ve had to put people on fewer days and let some people go because of the costs,” the owner said. “We’re not sure how much longer we can keep this up if things don’t turn around in Grand Bahama.”

The warning comes as the Port Lucaya business community continues to lose restaurants and retailers, and struggles to attract sufficient customer traffic. 

While reporting this story, Tribune Business found that several telephone numbers listed for businesses in the Port Lucaya area were no longer in service, while other companies contacted appeared to have already closed.

Mr Cleveland said Grand Bahama’s biggest need is to get its airport functioning properly and restore the visitor traffic that local businesses depend on.

“The airport. That’s the biggest thing; the airport,” he said. “Everybody talking about the airport now. They ain’t had no airport from 2004 - from 1997, really, but 2004 is when it finished.”

Mr Cleveland said the cruise traffic generated by Carnival’s Celebration Key has not produced the level of spillover business that local operators need, arguing that most passengers remain within the cruise facility.

“No, because they have their own island. The people don’t live up to that,” he said. “The only people we get from there are people who book online. That’s the only people we get from there.”

Mr Cleveland said the lack of airlift also makes it difficult for Grand Bahama to attract new hotel and other investment because investors ultimately need a reliable way to bring visitors to the island.

“That’s the only thing. If we don’t get the airport up, I mean, a hotel — you know, you used to have people trying to build a hotel. But what you could do? How are the people going to get here?” he asked.

The anonymous restaurant operator likewise said the airport is critical to the survival of Grand Bahama’s tourism-dependent businesses. “Grand Bahama needs the airport. We need people coming into the island. Without that traffic, it’s extremely difficult for businesses here to survive,” the owner said.

The concerns come as Port Lucaya continues to face calls for revitalisation, with operators arguing that the area needs investment and redevelopment to restore its appeal and generate more business.

“Port Lucaya needs to be revitalised. Something has to happen there because the businesses are struggling to survive,” the owner said.

Mr Cleveland said development would be positive, but questioned whether investors would be willing to commit capital while businesses are struggling to make money.

“Anything that you do that’s positive is good, but if we ain’t making no money, we don’t have no investors coming in. I don’t see nothing really happening,” he said, adding that the pressure is particularly difficult for operators trying to maintain payroll while customer traffic remains weak.

“I stress out now. I always stress because they know what they make, and I still have to make payroll. So, you know, it’s only so long you can do that,” Mr Cleveland said.

The anonymous operator said the same pressures are leaving businesses with little room to absorb further increases in costs or another prolonged period of weak traffic.

“Businesses can only absorb so much. If we don’t see things turning around and more people coming into Grand Bahama, I don’t know how much longer some of these businesses are going to be able to hold on,” the owner said.