The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A top resort operator says never mind tourism because Grand Bahama presently lacks sufficient hotel rooms to accommodate Grand Bahama Shipyard’s expansion and other corporate travellers.

Magnus Alnebeck, Pelican Bay’s general manager, told Tribune Business in a recent interview that the island’s inventory shortage is such that even workers brought in temporarily for dry dockings, refits and other projects at the Shipyard may struggle to find a room.

Revealing that Pelican Bay, which typically caters to corporate travellers, has been sold out for at least 12-14 days this month as a result of Shipyard activity, he added that being able to accommodate existing business is a more immediate challenge than selling the Grand Lucayan, starting in earnest on Grand Bahama International Airport’s redevelopment and reigniting the island’s tourism product.

“The bigger problem in Grand Bahama is going to be with a lot of the stuff that’s happening at the Shipyard,” Mr Alnebeck told this newspaper. “We’re going to see we don’t have enough hotel rooms anyway. There’s activity not related to tourism that needs hotel rooms.

“There were some scheduled dry docks and we are sold out on some days. We were running 26-27 percent occupancy for Tuesday and Wednesday in one week, and then we were sold out. We were sold out for almost 12 or 14 days [in January] where we were looking to be totally full.

“It was great but, as you know, it’s peaks and valleys. It’s not the greatest environment when you go from 20 percent to 100 percent occupancy because you struggle to keep up with it and then it goes quiet again. It’s great to have the business. Really, the Shipyard is a great asset for Grand Bahama not only in hotel occupancy but economic activity overall.”

Mr Alnebeck, though, said “there’s no way” Pelican Bay can accommodate a 200-room booking for a Shipyard dry dock as the largest number of rooms it is prepared to give up for a single block booking is typically 40-50 - rising to a maximum of 60 in special circumstances.

With just one of the Grand Lucayan’s three resort complexes open, Freeport struggles to accommodate such an influx of visitors unless supported by available Airbnbs and vacation rental options. Noting that it is now more than eight years since Memories and Sunwing exited Freeport’s resort industry in Hurricane Matthew’s aftermath, Mr Alnebeck reiterated that “it is a difficult hotel to sell”.

“The key thing is to get the Grand Lucayan sold and open in the quickest way. That is what’s going to be a game changer,” he told Tribune Business. “It is now eight years since the majority of the Grand Lucayan closed. That is a substantial time. It’s a difficult hotel to sell because it’s been closed for so long.

“There is no question that we need more open hotels here on Grand Bahama, and more airlift, and when that happens we will need an airport to accommodate the airlift. That all depends on when and if the hotel [Grand Lucayan] will be sold and open. That is the key factor.

“A new airport in itself is not going to generate more airlift. We need to generate the airlift and, when that comes, we will need the airport. That is the hope; that a buyer somehow materialises for the Grand Lucayan, and that buyer will make clear you need to start on the airport. We need to work together to get the airlift.”

James Carey, Grand Bahama’s Chamber of Commerce president, told Tribune Business that end-March/early April 2025 will mark the two-year anniversary of when Grand Bahama International Airport’s $200m redevelopment was supposed to start as promised by Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, at that year’s Grand Bahama Business Outlook summit.

“Frankly, I have no idea what’s happening with the airport,” he told Tribune Business. “There’s no information forthcoming. March is just a couple of months away, and that will make the two-year anniversary of when the project should have commenced. There’s just nothing forthcoming, there’s nothing said....

“The airport isn’t happening. Weller has started and done some ground clearance. That does not amount to a heck of a lot but it’s a good statement of intent. Regardless of these investments, Grand Bahama needs an airport.

“It needs a gateway. It creates a certain impression. We offer ourselves as a modern city. We want the world to believe we are robust and responsive, and it’s hard to imagine what persons think when they arrive on our island. We have the infrastructure but it needs more than that,” Mr Carey added.

“What visitors and potential investors look at is things happening on the ground. If things are happening it excites the juices, and people want to participate and get involved. It is disappointing that things are not moving.”

Tribune Business sources familiar with developments confirmed that negotiations between the Government and a prospective buyer for the Grand Lucayan are continuing, although Grand Bahama and Freeport residents will likely adopt the attitude that they will ‘believe it when they see it’ when it comes to a deal closing because there have been so many false starts and dawns in the past.

This newspaper reported last year that the potential buyer plans to demolish all its existing properties to make way for three new hotel towers and two casinos as part of an investment that could hit $2bn.

Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the prospective purchaser is a US-based investor/developer with strong and already-existing casino industry links. While none have been willing to identify the group, it is understood that the deal may be announced imminently and possibly as early as this week.

“It’s a little vague, but it’s a US-based company with casino connections,” one contact said. “They’re apparently going to knock all the hotels down and put up three towers and two casinos. If it’s true, it’s encouraging.

“It’s this big company, and they have big plans with the three towers. I don’t know why they would knock down the big hotel in the middle, which is the only one that has value.” Another source said of the buyer: “These aren’t people looking to try and find a demand. They have that demand. They are building a supply for that demand. These are real investors, real developers and people who have real money.”

Only one of the Grand Lucayan’s three resort properties, Lighthouse Point, is presently open to guests. Both Breaker’s Cay and the former Memories property have been closed for numerous years - the latter ever since Hurricane Matthew struck the island in October 2016.

Subsequent checks by this newspaper confirmed that its contacts have not been misinformed, with other well-placed sources also confirming the purchaser’s plans. It is also understood that Australian golfer, Greg Norman’s, companies will be hired to design and manage the new resort complex’s golf courses which are likely to number more than one as part of ambitions to again make Freeport a tourism destination.