The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

ATLANTIS’ announcement of its re-opening on December 10 has sparked elation among Tourism officials who view it as a light at the end of the tunnel for the rebound of the country’s economy.

A jubilant Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar told The Tribune yesterday that as thousands can now return to work, officials are over the moon that their reopening strategy is beginning to bear fruit.

Atlantis said on Facebook yesterday: “Sun-Filled days are here again, and so are we – we’re back! Paradise is reopening and ready to welcome you back! Come away to your secret place. Reopening December 10, 2020.”

“This is wonderful news,” Minister D’Aguilar said in an interview. “Obviously we are very excited that in the first phase almost just over 2,000 Bahamians can be expected to be re-employed. So, our strategy of re-opening the economy is beginning to bear fruit.

“We have Atlantis opening on December 10 and Baha Mar opening on December 17, so everybody just has to band together and make sure that we keep our COVID-19 cases decreasing as they have been. We will be ready to receive our wonderful visitors and to jump start our economy once again with the onset of the Christmas season.”

Pressed for an approximate figure on how many guests are expected to arrive now that the Tourism industry has re-opened, featuring major resorts the minister said it is too soon to tell.

“No figures to give at this time. It is too premature. A lot of people are making last minute decisions to travel, as in one or two weeks before they travel.”

Chiming in on the good news, Director of Labor John Pinder said now that the hotels are re-opening, the government and its agencies can be relieved from the pressure of giving monetary assistance.

“This is good news,” Mr Pinder said. “I am glad they are opening. We are excited about the announcement of Atlantis’ re-opening. This will now cause a number of persons to come off the extended layoff and get back to work. That’s a sign that the economy is about to open back and once tourists start to come then you are looking at an economy that starts to rebound.

“When the economy starts to rebound, then people are able to make money and spend money. This will now take the pressure off of NIB and it will also take the pressure off of the government. NIB could only assist to a certain extent, funding-wise, so the government has been sending funds to NIB to finance this extended lay off period. So, for the most part we are really excited to hear that is happening.”

Mr Pinder hopes that all the necessary COVID-19 protocols will be in place and be adhered to in order to ensure guests coming in to that property are tested and that the staff is safe.

“We have been telling hotel staff all along to be patient and accept the extended layoffs,” he continued. “The hotel will bring back the staff in incremental stages as they need them. So, if they only have 300 rooms booked, they will bring back sufficient staff that will cover the 300 rooms. As they tend to come up to 70 percent to 80 percent bookings, they will have the full staff complement back to work.”

Darrin Woods, Bahamas Hotel Caterers and Allied Workers Union president is also happy about the re-opening of Atlantis; however, he remains cautious on behalf of his members.

“I will remain optimistic and hopeful,” he told the Tribune. “At the end of the day we just want to know how concrete the opening dates for all the resorts are. We now have a new date of December 10 for Atlantis and we are optimistic and hopeful that they will be reopening on that date so employees can begin going back to work.

“We believe that something may be happening because some departments have been called back to work. Those are the areas like repairing and maintenance. We will begin to see it when we see another department go back which should be the one to get certain areas prepared. Once we begin to see that then we will know that some things are happening.”

Mr Woods said his union just wants to be assured that everyone is able to go back to work safely, in an environment where they will be able to provide for themselves.