The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The hotel union's president branded 2020 as "a complete write-off" for tourism as more major hotel properties yesterday either extended their closures or unveiled plans to shut yet again.

Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union's (BHCAWU) chief, told Tribune Business that the government's decision to close the country's borders to US commercial air transportation with effect from yesterday represented "a devastating blow to say the least" for the tourism industry and its employees.

His comments came just prior to other large Paradise Island properties confirming that they planned to follow Atlantis' lead and either extend their shut down, or close once more, due to the loss of commercial air links to a US market that accounts for 82 percent of this nation's visitors.

Jermaine Wright, general manager at Comfort Suites on Paradise Island, told potential guests in a July 20, 2020, letter that the resort was copying Atlantis by scrubbing its planned July 31 re-opening in favour of an extended closure with no set date for its re-opening.

"The COVID-19 global health pandemic continues to usher in a rapidly-changing environment that impacts all of us, most notably you, our valued guests," he wrote. "We have been continually monitoring the substantial upsurge in COVID-19 cases reported recently in our primary source market, the United States of America.

"Cases unfortunately have continued to increase. This has regrettably impacted our proposed July 31, 2020, re-opening date and the ability to welcome you, our valued guests, back to your home away from home in paradise."

Comfort Suites' decision is likely to come as little surprise given that one of its key attractions is guest access to all the amenities at Atlantis, which is itself likely to be closed until November and the Thanksgiving holiday.

Meanwhile, fellow Paradise Island-based resort, the RIU Palace, in a letter to guests that was widely circulated on social media, said it planned to close with effect from next Tuesday, July 28. However, the Warwick Paradise Island property confirmed in a statement that it plans to remain open despite the loss of commercial air transport links to the US.

"Warwick Paradise Island is currently open and operating with guests in-house and special offers for residents in the marketplace," said Benjamin Davis, the Warwick's general manager. "No decision has been made to close our doors next week, which has been inaccurately reported by some members of the local media."

Resorts World Bimini, meanwhile, indicated via its website that it remains open albeit on reduced hours from 2pm on Thursday to 5pm on Sunday. It hinted that it is relying on Tropic Ocean Airways charters to bring in sufficient guests to sustain a scaled-down operation.

However, the border closure to US air links, continued record COVD-19 infection rates in major tourist source markets such as Florida and Texas, and the resultant resort closures will put hundreds of Bahamians back on the temporary furlough lines and even risk permanent termination for some.

Mr Woods told Tribune Business his fears about the inability of The Bahamas' major visitor provider, the US, to bring COVID-19 under control and the associated negative consequences for this nation's largest industry were now being realised.

"The epicentre [of COVID-19] is now 45 minutes away from us," he said. "Earlier it was two to three hours away, but now it's right on our doorstep and we're seeing cases increase by thousands daily. We're susceptible to that.

"This means [the hotel closures] we will now have more people home for longer. The hope was Atlantis re-opening would have a domino effect in the right direction. What we have now seen is them fall back because what they were seeing is not safe enough to re-open.

"It's like a hurricane. We're getting the tail-end backlash from this pandemic, and we have to really buckle down and navigate through this. We don't have a playbook for this. Everything is so fluid and changes by the day. It's really how best we can steer through it."

As for the Government's decision to close The Bahamas' borders to US commercial traffic, Mr Woods added: "It's a devastating blow to say the least.... Whatever we do 2020 is a complete write-off. You wake up, go to sleep and hope it's a bad dream, but unfortunately it's reality.

"The reality is still to hit home as to how serious this pandemic is for the world and travelling public. We will have persons unemployed for an extended period of time. We know we're going to have some persons off till later in the year. While we do not know the numbers, they will be greater now.

"There's absolutely nothing happening in the sector; nothing substantial or significant until later in the year at earliest. That shows the vulnerability of the tourism product. Persons can't travel. Coupled with a health pandemic you have an economic crisis."

Mr Woods said hotel workers had been "gung ho" on the announcements by many properties that they were going to re-open when the border restrictions were first lifted on July 1 due to the fact that, unless they did, they were likely to remain shut until fall/November because of the traditional slow season from August to October.