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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2022
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Superplex cuts staff 25% in $3m ‘survival’ package By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE FUSION Superplex yesterday said its workforce has been reduced by 25 percent compared to pre-COVID levels as part of a $3m cost savings package “critical to our survival and keeping on the lights”. Carlos Foulkes, the cinema and entertainment complex’s chief executive, told Tribune Business via written responses to this newspaper’s questions that it had been forced to restructure its operations due to changed consumer habits in the pandemic’s aftermath. With fewer late movie nights, and earlier restaurant closings, he explained that Fusion Superplex’s labour needs have decreased as a result. The Gladstone Roadbased business is also down
• Move ‘critical to keeping the lights on’ • Attendance numbers 33% off forecast • Eyes Xmas bounce, 2023 profitability
33 percent on its adjusted attendance forecasts for 2022, although close to four months remain for the year, with those numbers also representing 75 percent of what it achieved pre-COVID in 2019. Mr Foulkes nevertheless voiced optimism that Fusion Superplex will return to profitability in 2023, with revenue generated by its restaurants and other amenities returning to pre-COVID levels by year-end 2022. Cinema attendance was also likely impacted by a weak late summer movie line-up that “had major holes with no good content”, as the major movie producing studios pushed back their best releases to late 2022 and next year. Asserting that Fusion Superplex’s situation was no different to the global cinema industry’ struggle to rebound from
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Shark encounters ‘our safest dive’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PROMINENT Bahamian dive operator yesterday predicted Tuesday’s fatality will not have a long-lasting impact on tourism, adding that over four decades shark encounters have proven to be his company’s “safest dive”
Stuart Cove, principal of Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, told Tribune Business that “the terrible tragedy” which claimed the life of US tourist, Caroline DiPlacido, had “nothing to do with diving” while acknowledging the instant reactions calling for a halt to all interaction between visitors and sharks.
While agreeing that some will “throw my business under the bus” and that of other dive operators/excursion providers, he revealed that his company had overseen “a million encounters” between customers and sharks without one incident in 40 years due to the strict safety protocols that are enforced.
To prevent further tragedies, Mr Cove told this newspaper that the Government needs to ban scientists from dropping chum and other waste in close proximity to New Providence as a means of attracting tiger and bull sharks to them for research purposes.
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‘Put shark victim family before tourism fall-out’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A TOP hotelier yesterday said The Bahamas must prioritise “comforting the traumatised family” of Tuesday’s fatal shark attack and worry later about any negative impact to the tourism industry. Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business that the “overriding” concern for the destination is the welfare of Caroline DiPlacido’s family after the US mother-of-three was
ROBERT SANDS killed by a bull shark while swimming at Green Cay just off the coast of mainland New Providence. Noting that shark attacks, both in The Bahamas and
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Bahamas’ disaster response set for $160m transformation • Gov’t requests $80m ‘replenish’ of IDB facility • Nation below average on governance ability • IDB’s concern reform ‘insufficiently robust’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS’ ability to cope with natural disasters is set for a $160m overhaul after being ranked among the weakest in the Western Hemisphere by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The multilateral lender, in a paper seen by Tribune Business, plans to assist the Government in transforming its governance framework and public policy response to major catastrophes given that a Hurricane Dorian-strength storm is now forecast to occur more frequently - at least once every 25 years
- due to climate change impacts. The Category Five storm inflicted $3.4bn in combined damages and losses when it devastated Abaco and Grand Bahama, and the IDB said the Government’s ability to cope with and respond to such events remains “limited”. The Bahamas scored just 22 percent, out of a possible 100, when measured against an index devised by the bank to benchmark a country’s disaster risk management and response mechanisms. While the Bahamas fared well compared to Caribbean rivals, achieving the second highest score on
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Retail chief sees signs of supply chain ‘easing’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE BAHAMAS Federation of Retailers’ cochair yesterday said larger merchants are reporting an “easing” of supply chain disruption with various surcharges previously applied to shipping costs “starting to get removed”. Tara Morley told Tribune Business that the logistics and cost pressures were
starting to lessen despite continued global economic uncertainty, with much of global inflation already priced into product orders already placed. However, she revealed that the outlook for the key upcoming Christmas retail season, when merchants make up to 40 percent of their annual sales during a period that can make or break their year, remains
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