The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A $1m investment in a pioneering Grand Bahama project’s tourism attractions will drive increased revenues to finance planting more than 20,000 coral fragments annually to rescue the island’s reefs.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), detailing an initiative to both enhance Coral Vita’s financial sustainability and revive fragile ecosystems upon which much sea life depends, said the company’s restoration activities are much-needed given that an estimated 80 percent of Bahamian coral reefs are dying.

With Coral Vita already charging a $20 entrance fee for a one-hour tour of its facilities, and Grand Bahama set to experience an extra two million-plus cruise visitors annually when Carnival’s Celebration Key private cruise port opens next year, the multilateral lender explained the capital injection is critical for it to fully exploit this new revenue source.

“Coral reefs are dying globally - around 80 percent mortality in The Bahamas -  threatening valuable ecosystem services, and traditional reef restoration methods don’t scale ecologically or economically,” the IDB warned in a project summary.

“Coral Vita utilises a commercial reef restoration platform to grow diverse and resilient coral in land-based farms while funding scalable impact through a for-profit business model. In addition to selling restoration as a service (RaaS) to reef-dependent customers and licensing in-house technologies, the company generates revenue by turning their coral farms in eco-tourism attractions.

“Increasing revenue from tourism experiences is essential for the long-term viability of Coral Vita’s Bahamas’ operations and the company’s ability to continue restoring local reefs over the years ahead. Coral Vita coral farm typically charges a $20 entrance fee for a standard one-hour tour. It is already highlighted as a leading destination by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, local tour operators, hotels and cruise lines,’ the IDB added.

“With the opening of the new Celebration Key port on-island in 2025, along with other pending developments such as the forthcoming resort and upgraded international airport, millions of new tourists are expected to visit the island annually soon. This IDB funding will allow Coral Vita to best service this rapidly growing tourism market and further refine its sustainable local business model.”

Detailing how the financing will be used, the IDB added: “To accommodate the influx of new coral farm visitors, expand offerings on-site and generate greater income streams, IDB Lab funds will be spent on upgrading and expanding tourism facilities and experiences at the farm.

“As well, a portion of funds will be used to grow and out-plant resilient coral into a nearby reef site so that Coral Vita can offer increased and more accessible snorkel experiences to guests. This restoration project will generate a positive impact on marine biodiversity and reef-related ecosystem services - fisheries, tourism - that can be leveraged to secure new restoration contracts from reef-dependent customers, while also creating a reef site that can function as a unique tourism destination, which will be integrated into new tour enhancements.

“The investment into Coral Vita’s tourism offerings will further boost its ability to restore reefs in The Bahamas over the coming years, as the revenue streams developed will help to sustain its work in growing and out-planting over 20,000 coral fragments into the reefs of Grand Bahama each year.”

Some $500,000, or close to 50 percent of the total $1.015m funding, will come from the IDB in the form of a grant with the outstanding balance covered by counterpart financing from Coral Vita “to enhance... the eco-tourism offering and restore a tourism-focused reef area contributing to the conservation and restoration of marine biodiversity”.

An environmental review of the project, issued this month, added: “The project is in the Grand Lucayan Waterway and helps restore coral reefs, which are vital for maintaining marine biodiversity and ecosystem health.

“Coral Vita will... redevelop the Coral Array area for better foot traffic flow; expand and enhance the Welcome Centre, gift shop, cafe, parking lot, education zone and boardwalks, and install a larger canal dock to accommodate tourism boats.”

The project will also train staff to manage increased tourist traffic and restore marine health and biodiversity to boost “ecotourism appeal by growing and transplanting corals to support marine biodiversity... The facility operates with a current workforce of 17 full-time staff, 41 percent women. One hundred percent of staff is directly employed”.

Sam Teicher, who co-founded Coral Vita with Gaitor Halpern, told Tribune Business in a recent interview: “

“The grant is really going to help us upgrade and accelerate the work we’re doing. The funding will pay for infrastructure upgrades at the farm to enhance the tourism and education experience.

“Also, the number of people visiting the island is expected to increase with everything from the Six Senses resort to the Carnival cruise port and upgrades to the existing cruise port at Freeport Harbour and when the airport gets upgraded. It’s all about increasing the capacity of the farm so it will be much more of a world-class experience for eco-tourism and training.

“We’ll continue growing coral to restore the local reefs, which has coastal protection and fisheries benefits. We are restoring reefs in Grand Bahama for the benefit of the island, the economy and the community. As the farm continues to grow, we’ll be able to help restore reefs throughout the country,” he explained.

“We can grow coral to revitalise reefs throughout The Bahamas. The grant puts us on the pathway to revitalise Bahamian reefs. It’s great for Coral Vita, great for local businesses, great for the local community and great for The Bahamas, and having a greater multiplier effect is what we are working for.”

Increased revenues generated by Coral Vita’s farm and eco-tourism attraction will thus enable the project to ramp-up coral growing production and revitalise more reefs that are increasingly endangered by ocean warming and the perils of climate change. And it is these same reefs and ecosystems that sustain much of The Bahamas’ ocean or ‘blue economy’, particularly fisheries as well as tourism.