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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2025
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Cruise lines target $348m investment at Xanadu site By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ROYAL Caribbean and one of its affiliates have obtained government approval to acquire Freeport’s long-closed Xanadu Beach Hotel and surrounding land as part of a $348m investment, it was revealed yesterday. The Central Bank of The Bahamas, in its presentation on 2025 first quarter economic developments,
• Gov’t approves Royal Caribbean/ Celebrity acquisition • Planning 40-acre ‘recreational, entertainment’ location • Confirmation comes as owner Mario Donato passes disclosed that the cruise line and its high-end Celebrity Cruises affiliate have received the Davis administration’s permission to proceed with the acquisition of a total 40-acre site
that they intend to transform into “recreational and entertainment facilities”. “Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines - Celebrity Cruises Incorporated obtained approval for the acquisition
of 40 acres of privatelyowned land for the development of recreational and entertainment facilities. The investment is valued at $348m,” the Central Bank confirmed. While it made no mention of the Xanadu or the precise location, multiple sources familiar with developments told Tribune Business that the Central Bank was indeed referring to Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises’ pending acquisition of the Grand
Labour Department in ‘crisis mode’ after fire By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net LABOUR investigators plan to this week visit a private cruise island and another “major” destination to probe worker complaints even though a recent fire has left the Department “in crisis mode”. Howard Thompson, the Government’s labour director, yesterday told Tribune Business that investigating multiple concerns voiced by staff at Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) Great Stirrup Cay remains “a top priority” for the Department of Labour as it awaits a decision on a replacement location following the blaze that devastated its new offices at Old Trail Road.
• But probe into NCL’s island still ‘top priority’ • ‘Coming for’ another major location this week • Officials eye ‘temporary’ home; leases vacated
HOWARD THOMPSON Revealing that the visits to the Berry Islands cruise destination and other location, which he declined to name, will be a joint operation with the Immigration Department, he voiced concern that some employers outside New Providence may have become “lackadaisical” when it came to complying with Bahamian labour laws because of the distance
between themselves and Nassau. As for the fire fall-out, Mr Thompson said the Department of Labour needs to find a new temporary home as it has to vacate both its Rosetta Street and Robinson Road locations within the next two weeks. He explained that the Department had already given up its leases on these properties in anticipation of being able to move to now-fire ravaged Old Trail Road, and new tenants are already waiting to move in.
Two temporary locations have now been identified, and Mr Thompson said the Department should hear from Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, and her permanent secretary by Friday this week as to which of the two has been selected. And, to prevent any future threat to its records and data, he told this newspaper that the Department is moving swiftly to digitise all paperwork and store it in the cloud.
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Gov’t’s $120m drawdown helps cut external reserve growth 69% By NEIL HARTNELL and FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporters THE Central Bank’s governor yesterday said the Bahamian economy can still grow in 2025 amid Trump tariff uncertainty as the pace of expansion for the country’s foreign currency reserves fell almost 69 percent. John Rolle said there are a “range of possibilities” for the country’s 2025 economic performance as data revealed that much of the decline in the country’s external reserve growth rate year-over-year during the 2025 first quarter was due to a $120m drawdown by the “public sector” - meaning the Government. “Turning to foreign exchange indicators, net inflows decreased during the first quarter of 2025 owing to reduced contributions from both the private and public sectors. In particular, commercial banks’ total purchases of foreign currency from the private sector were approximately unchanged during the first quarter, underscoring comparatively subdued growth in economic activity within the sector.” Mr Rolle said. “However, given stronger private sector credit expansion, gross foreign currency sales - which mostly signal expenditures on imports of goods and services - was 2.4 percent higher. As a result, commercial banks’ net foreign currency sales to the
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CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS
Central Bank in ‘substantial work’ over banking reforms By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank’s governor yesterday said the banking industry regulator is planning to complete a “substantial amount” of work on sector reforms during 2025. John Rolle, speaking at its 2025 first quarter economic developments briefing, said the regulator strengthened the framework for financial institutions to implement new banking fees last year and is working to introduce basic savings accounts to protect lowincome individuals. “One of the priorities is to make progress in introducing a basic savings or transactional account, where it would carve out some protections against the range of fees for those who have
limited financial means,” said Mr Rolle. “So far as bank fees are concerned, there’s more work ahead of us than we’ve already achieved. Initially, we focused more on the notification period for any variations in fees and any kind of feedback that the Central Bank can give to financial institutions ahead of any new fees that they introduced. ]”That framework was strengthened towards the last quarter of 2024, and financial institutions have been communicating with the Central Bank in terms of how they are planning any variations in line with the framework that we’ve put in place.” Mr Rolle said the Central Bank is also working to have the draft
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$5.43 Bahama resort property, its accompanying land and other real estate parcels in the immediate vicinity that they plan to combine into a shore destination for the latter’s passengers. One contact, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, yesterday said the Xanadu deal has been agreed and all parties are “signed up” with the closing due to take place in either late summer or early fall - possibly September. “They’re going to do a big thing,” they said of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. “It’s all coming together.” However, the confirmation of government approval for the Royal Caribbean/Celebrity Cruises transaction was tinged with tragedy as it was yesterday confirmed that Mario
$5.55 Donato, the Italian/Bahamian businessman who was the Xanadu’s long-time owner, has just passed away. Prime Minister Philip Davis KC and his wife, Ann, in a personal tribute to the deceased businessman, voiced their “profound sadness” at his passing. They said: “Mario was one of those rare souls whose presence lit up every room and whose heart seemed large enough to embrace an entire nation. “A man of incredible spirit and kindness, he came to The Bahamas in the early 1960s, disembarking in Freeport as a young waiter and found not just a new home, but a place to build dreams, friendships and a lasting legacy. “From the beginning, Mario embraced our
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Lending stability ‘better than bubble set to burst’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN banker last night said “stability is sometimes better than a bubble about to burst” after the Central Bank unveiled double-digit increases for both loan approvals and rejections in the 2024 second half. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, told Tribune Business that the regulator’s latest six-month lending conditions survey revealed no “monumental” swings in either a positive or negative direction with borrowing trends staying consistent with the previous 18 months. Despite what it described as a slight decrease in credit approval rates, the Central Bank said applications for new loans rose by 22.7 percent in the 2024 second half compared to the same six-month period in 2023 at 20,145. And, of those
GOWON BOWE submissions, some 16,280 - representing a 20 percent jump compared to the 2023 second half - were approved by Bahamian commercial banks for an 80.8 percent approval rate. However, loan application denials increased by a similar 17.2 percent yearover-year to hit 1,863. And of those rejections, one in every four (25 percent) of spurned consumer loan applications, and one in
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