The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Group bookings at Atlantis are on an “amazing 15-20 per cent uptick” pace for 2014 and 2015, the resort’s operator yesterday revealing that it could set a new Thanksgiving Day “record” thanks to its highly-anticipated basketball tournament.

George Markantonis, Kerzner International (Bahamas) president and managing director, told Tribune Business that some 16,000 tickets for the ‘Battle 4 Atlantis’ NCAA basketball tournament had already been sold, a number that continued to climb.

Disclosing that Atlantis was “ahead of our booking pace” for the December period, with New Year expected to be fully sold out, Mr Markantonis said he was still “looking cautiously” at the 2013 first quarter.

Indicating that booking patterns were still being affected by Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath in the Bahamas’ key US east coast tourist markets, Mr Markantonis said it was too early to determine how the first three months next year - which include Easter - will “shake out”.

The immediate term on Paradise Island, though, is much clearer. The Kerzner International head told Tribune Business: “We’ve got a very, very busy Thanksgiving. It could be a new record thanks to Battle 4 Atlantis.

“We’re sold out from Thursday to Saturday. It doesn’t get any better than that. Some 16,000 game tickets have been sold, and that’s climbing. We’re still selling. We’re getting a lot of US, North American support, but also a considerable amount of local support.”

While still too early to make a definitive assessment, Mr Markantonis said December bookings were “ahead of our pace”, aided by the upcoming Sheryl Crow concert on December 8.

Atlantis was usually sold out from December 27 through the New Year, and the Kerzner International managing director said 2012 would see “exactly the same”.

As for Atlantis’s core group/convention business, he told Tribune Business: “Next year right now is marginally ahead of this year. But 2014 and 2015 are showing an amazing uptick, a 15-20 per cent increase on the pace of bookings so far.”

Group bookings are critical for hotel operators such as Kerzner International and Baha Mar, as they provide a solid block of room nights - often booked well in advance - that allow them to plan and arrange leisure business around.

However, Mr Markantonis told Tribune Business that currently the 2013 first quarter was “flat” compared to this year.

“We expect the pace to pick up, but we’ll have to see how it shakes out,” he said. “I continue to look cautiously at that first quarter, we don’t have full clarity yet. It’s just too soon.”

Mr Markantonis said bookings had been “a bit skewed” by the clean-up and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the Bahamas’ leading US east coast markets.

To aid 2013 first quarter bookings, Atlantis had put in place within the last week “a very aggressive special for early birds”, developing a per person room rate that also included breakfast and dinner within the price - almost like an all-inclusive resort.

Elsewhere, Mr Markantonis said: “The Ocean Club is having a record year in terms of rate, and Atlantis is right there.

“We have much higher rates in some of the peak months. In general, our rates are holding. We have been focusing on occupancy a lot.

“We’re delighted that Conde Nast just announced its annual awards, and for the Atlantic region, the Ocean Club, the Reef and the Cove all were ranked in the top 10. That shows also that we haven’t really compromised any of our standards to make up the numbers.”

Mr Markantonis said Kerzner International was “doing the final product selection” for its new high-end casino bar and Todd English’s Olives restaurant, with both set to become “wonderful additions” to Atlantis.

And, while the resort’s casino was “seeing a rebound”, Mr Markantonis said: “We don’t want to rest on our laurels”.

As a result, the promised legislative reforms to the Bahamas casino gaming regime were “critical”.