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THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023
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‘Not competitive’: Marina boss sees 20% Xmas fall By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
• Blames decline ‘100%’ on VAT’s imposition • Association chief: Sector facing ‘mixed bag’ • ‘Noticeable’ drop off in Harbour Island traffic
A NASSAU marina operator yesterday blamed increased taxation for a near-20 percent decline in Christmas yacht traffic, and warned: “We’re not competitive with anywhere else in the Caribbean.” Peter Maury, who manages Bay Street Marina, told Tribune Business the holiday drop-off had reinforced his belief that the Government’s decision to impose 10 percent VAT on yacht charters was “100 percent” responsible for the decline in business impacting other operators as well as his own facility. Confirming that the Christmas/New Year period had continued the downward spiral first observed at Thanksgiving last year, he revealed there were “three regular customers sitting in Florida right now” because they did not have sufficient charter contracts to make
a Bahamas trip financially viable. Mr Maury, suggesting that many Family Island marinas will be especially hard-hit due to their dependence on yacht charters, added that the fall-out extends beyond his industry to reduced business for fuel suppliers, food stores and all entities responsible for providing provisions to these vessels while in-country. Marques Williams, the recently-elected Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, yesterday
acknowledged the yacht charter business was “suffering” but described the industry’s overall performance as “a mixed bag”. He explained that marinas cater to other business besides charters, adding that “stopovers” and small boats were both segments that remained strong. Suggesting that the bigger picture must be accounted for, Mr Williams said: “It’s a mixed bag. There are some aspects of the business that have suffered; obviously the charter industry. However,
there are areas such as stopovers and smaller boats that are still thriving. It’s not just clear cut.” Another source added of the tax hike: “That concerns just a sector; those that benefit from the yacht charters. That doesn’t apply to all the marinas and boating activities.” However, the observations of other tourism operators appeared to validate Mr Maury’s concerns. Benjamin Simmons, proprietor of The Other Side and Ocean View properties on Harbour Island and Eleuthera, told Tribune Business that marina traffic at the tourism hotspot was “noticeably” down compared to previous years for much of the Christmas period and only ramped up in final days before New Year. “The only thing that was noticeably different was the volume of pleasure yachts. In the lead-up to Christmas, there were noticeably not as many. It exploded briefly
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Tighten ‘exit strategy’ on failed FDI projects By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT realtor yesterday argued that The Bahamas must craft a robust “exit strategy” for when major foreign direct investment (FDI) projects “go south”, adding: “Surely we’ve learned from our mistakes?”
Mario Carey, the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Group Bahamas principal, welcomed the numerous Heads of Agreement signed recently between the Davis administration and overseas investors but questioned whether these deals provide sufficient protection for the public’s interests such as Crown Land assets.
Citing Crown Land as an example, given that it is often leased or sold to investors to facilitate real estate-based projects, he told Tribune Business that the law may have to be reformed to enable the Government to quickly recover such assets should the development fail.
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MARIO CAREY
Bahamas must ‘bite demon in butt’ over food insecurity By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS must “bite the demon of food insecurity in the butt”, an agriculture entrepreneur urged yesterday, after it was revealed that close to one in five residents recently suffered from limited access to food. Caron Shepherd, the Bahamas Agro Entrepreneurs Group’s president, told Tribune Business it was “mandatory” that this country “step it up” in the fight against hunger after a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) study found that 17.2 percent of Bahamians suffered “moderate to severe
food insecurity” between 2019-2021 at COVID-19’s height. While The Bahamas was far from the most food insecure nation in the Western Hemisphere, with just 3.4 percent (around 18,000) of the population found to have experienced “severe” problems during that period, she added that these concerns were worsened by the fact that this country has the region’s greatest level of obesity among its adult population. The FAO report found that that 31.6 percent of Bahamian adults, close to one-third, were deemed obese. Ms Shepherd said The Bahamas was facing
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Briland resort enjoys 33% revenue surge • Owner says Xmas/New Year ‘insane as usual’ • Expects booking ‘gap’ to close for winter peak • Abaco hotel’s summer ‘slammed’; eyes record By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A HARBOUR Island hotelier yesterday said the Christmas holidays were “bananas as usual” with December 2022’s revenues 33 percent ahead of pre-COVID comparisons for that month. Benjamin Simmons, proprietor of The Other Side and Ocean View properties on Harbour Island and Eleuthera, told Tribune Business that the festive period was “insane” with continued strong demand enabling him to increase room rates by between 10-15 percent during the month. This more than offset a slight drop in occupancy, and he described his properties’ December performance as being “as good as or better, for sure” than what they achieved during the same month immediately prior to the pandemic in 2018 and 2019. “New Year and Christmas was bananas as usual,” Mr Simmons told this newspaper. “Tourism was insane before and after. We’re still riding at about 75 percent occupancy right now. We were over full, sold several times over [for Christmas and New Year. “It’s always the way it works out. And it’s already booked for next year. The families who checked out are booking for next year’s Christmas period already. That’s the sequence. That’s how it goes. It’s great. I just wish it was spread throughout the year, but it is what it is.” Mr Simmons, who has 24 rooms spread between his two properties, said he expects to close, if not eliminate, the present booking gap that exists between 2023 and prior years for the upcoming months that form peak winter season. “We are at 82 percent for bookings in January to February versus 84 percent last year, and for March we are currently at 72 percent versus 83 percent last year,” he revealed.
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