The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

BAHA MAR executives revealed yesterday that nearly $39 million more than their $400 million pledge had been awarded to Bahamian contractors to-date, adding that $715 million in bids had been tendered up to mid-March.

Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of government and external affairs, in an e-mail to Tribune Business, added that $105.207 million in contracts were still under negotiations, and that $171.796 million worth of bids had been unsuccessful.

The $3.5 billion resort development is scheduled to open in December 2014 with a 1,000 room hotel and 100,000 square foot Las Vegas-style casino hotel as its centrepiece, as well as a 700-room Grand Hyatt, a 300-room Mondrian, and the 200-room Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.

Baha Mar had initially committed to awarding some $200 million in contracts for the Cable Beach redevelopment project to Bahamian contractors, plus create 2,000 local construction jobs.

Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham managed to secure a commitment from Baha Mar’s major partner, the Chinese government, when he visited Beijing to double these figures to $400 million and 4,000, respectively, conscious of the need to ensure that Bahamians were not shut out from the largest single-phase foreign direct investment (FDI) project in the country’s history.

In a recent interview, Denise Godreau, Baha Mar’s chief marketing officer, said the resort would generate 4,000 jobs when it opens.

“There are going to be 4,000 jobs that we need to staff for opening, so in the next eight months we have to train and create a sense of pride to be a part of Baha Mar for an additional 4,000 people. We are absolutely confident that we can do that. We have received so many applications to-date,” she added.

Mrs Godreau reaffirmed that the resort was on target to open in December this year. She said the developers were confident that the hotel rooms in the Baha Mar development could be filled, noting that several marketing efforts, internal and with tourism stakeholders, were underway in that regard.

“We have different hotel companies. Each of them has a specific marketing plan. Each of them has millions of people in their own data base. They have very specific plans to make sure that everyone in their group knows that the resort is going to be open,” Mrs Godreau said.

“On top of that, we have a very strong marketing plan that’ll position Baha Mar as a global iconic resort.”