business@tribunemedia.net
Thursday, July 9, 2026
$ 6.75
‘Light at end of tunnel’: Resorts narrow gap to ‘25 by 8% points Family Island hotels cut early 25% drop to just 17% by end-May Promotion chief: ‘Starting to see shift’ after sluggish early 2026 Room revenue difference with 2025 reduced to the single digits BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net FAMILY Island resorts are “starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel”, a senior tourism executive disclosed yesterday, after they cut the early 25 percent year-over-year decline by around eight percentage points during the three months to endMay 2026. Kerry Fountain, the Bahama Out Island Promotions Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business that its 35 member properties - 80 percent of which are Bahamian-owned - are “starting to see the shift” following a sluggish first two months of 2026 that generated significant concerns about the outlook for the tourism and hotel industry outside Nassau. Speaking to initial reports on industry performance for the five months to end-May 2026, he said: “January through May is down about 17 percent, but January to February
KERRY FOUNTAIN was down 25 percent. Room nights sold, January through May, we’re down 17 percent, and we’re down 9 percent on room revenues. “If I was to look at all the reports available to us, January through February was down 25 percent; January through March was down 21 percent; January through April was down 19 percent, and January through May was down 17 percent on room nights sold. “Then, in terms of room revenue, we were down about 14 percent for the January through February period,” Mr Fountain added. “Then it was about
TRAVEL - See Page B4
URCA cuts satellite levy after Elon Musk’s Starlink protests BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE satellite communications provider owned and controlled by billionaire Elon Musk has persuaded Bahamian regulators to slash the original 5 percent turnover-based fee they planned to levy on the industry because it was too onerous. The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), unveiling the results of its public consultation on the proposed satellite communications regulatory regime it plans to implement for The Bahamas, revealed that it has cut this fee - to be applied to
$ 6.93
$ 6.75
$ 6.70
$ 6.87
‘Navigating crosswinds’: RF funds enjoy $30m expansion BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN investment bank yesterday revealed its mutual funds enjoyed $30m growth during the first five months of 2026 despite facing multiple “economic crosswinds” and a subdued first quarter in the local equities market. David Slatter, RF Bank & Trust (Bahamas) vice-president of investments, told Tribune Business that combined assets under management for its Bahamian dollar and international funds stood at $830m at end-May 2026 with all generating positive returns over the prior 12-month period despite the volatility created by Middle East conflict and the subsequent global oil price shock. And, despite yesterday’s renewed military hostilities between the US and Iran, he voiced “cautious optimism” that the post-first
‘Optimistic’ 2026 full-year returns match prior year Bahamian equities in ‘nice rebound’ after soft Q1 Investment chief: ‘There are risks to be navigated’ quarter “rebound” in Bahamian share prices will enable RF’s locally-focused funds to finish 2026 “close to” targeted investor returns and prior year performance with investment managers “doing a job to
navigate” market uncertainty to-date. Mr Slatter, revealing that RF Bank & Trust expects to add another portfolio manager within the next year, having already expanded staff in this area, also urged Bahamian investors to adopt a long-term strategy, set aside “more of their budget for investing” and not be deterred by local and international economic turbulence as any negative fall-out will ultimately “smooth out”. Of the $830m in assets under management in RF’s mutual funds, some $750m or just over 90 percent is held in its Bahamian dollar-denominated structures, with the bulk of that figure - $570m - invested in its Prime Income Fund. That sum, which accounts for 68.7 percent or more than two-thirds of total assets under management, again highlights the conservative, low-risk appetite of most Bahamian investors who prefer securer,
$200m Exuma resort opponent attacks ‘salami-sliced’ approval BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE $200m Rosewood Exuma resort’s chief opponent is maintaining a full-on assault against its rival’s approvals by commissioning a report attacking the “salami-sliced approach” to granting the environmental permits through a process it branded “deeply flawed”.
ELON MUSK all turnover earned above $500,000 annually - to 3 percent following push back from Mr Musk’s Starlink and others. URCA, which conceded that the consultation
TRANSMIT - See Page B10
LOT FOR SALE
PARKING LOT ELIZABETH AVENUE New Providence
DESCRIPTION Large commercial lot in Downtown Nassau. Currently used as a parking lot with spaces for 100 cars. Continue with parking space rentals or develop to suit your commercial needs.
Contact info Mike N. Klonaris tel:+1-242-421-1244 mikek@nestseekers.com
Andrew Baker, a 40-year British ecology consultant, who asserts that he has worked on numerous Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) including in “tropical” climates such as Malaysia, in a report prepared for Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club argued that the study conducted for the Yntegra Group development did not account for all the
changes made to the latter’s design. His report, which has already been admitted as evidence to Turtlegrass’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board challenge to Rosewood Exuma’s preliminary site plan approval, argues that the EIA used to support the latter’s certificates of environmental clearance (CEC) failed to account
DAVID SLATTER lower-yielding investments such as government and corporate paper. RF Bank & Trust’s Targeted Equity Fund, which is focused on investments in Bahamian public company stocks, in contrast generates returns which - in a good year - are near-double those delivered by its Prime Income counterpart yet it has less than one-third of the latter’s assets at around $180m. However, higher yields typically equate to greater risk, which many local investors shy away from. “The Prime Income Fund, which invests in fixed income [instruments], was 4.8 percent for the trailing 12 months as at May 31,” Mr Slatter said of the investment returns generated over the prior year.
TRADING - See Page B6 for “all the impacts” of the $200m project because it was based on an earlier plan that was later substantially revised. As a result, Mr Baker is arguing that the correct EIA version was not placed before the Town Planning Committee when it decided to grant Yntegra preliminary site plan approval for the Big Sampson Cay project earlier this year. And, in turn, he argues that a CEC issued on the basis of an incomplete EIA means that Rosewood
PERMIT - See Page B7