The Tribune

By Annelia Nixon

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas is “competing with getting people off the ship”, the deputy prime minister asserted yesterday, adding that there will still be sufficient cruise passenger volumes for all even after Royal Caribbean’s Paradise Island destination opens next month.

Chester Cooper, also the minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said the benefits of the Royal Beach Club must “be a win-win” for Bahamian businesses as well as the cruise line while arguing that this nation must enhance its product to encourage more foot traffic throughout New Providence.

Addressing concerns that next month’s opening of the Royal Beach Club will negatively affect foot traffic throughout the Downtown Nassau area, impacting merchants, restaurants, taxi and tour operators, he said the Government is in active discussions with Royal Caribbean. Given that the Government and Bahamian investors will own 49 percent of the project, he added that they will have a say in what happens.

“The  other point I will make is that all of the businesses on the island would be owned by Bahamians, as is required in their [Royal Caribbean’s] Heads of Agreement, and all of their services are to be provided by Bahamians, as is mandated in their Heads of Agreement,” Mr Cooper said.

“So we're looking forward through the Tourism Development Corporation and the Ministry of Tourism to working along with them to package tours, to enhance what is now available. And, hopefully, as a result of this, this would get more guests actually off the ship.”

Mr Cooper said more activities and attractions are needed for tourists, including cruise passengers to enjoy because “if this [Paradise Island] facility attracts 1,000 tourists a day, there are 29,000 that's still looking for things to do”. The goal is to encourage cruise passengers to leave the ship and patronise Bahamian businesses on shore as “we are competing with getting people off the ship”.

“We are competing with getting people off the ship, because there are not enough attractions for them to do,” Mr Cooper said. “So the more we get them off the ship, the more the chances are that they will spend more money on shore.

“When they come back from Royal Beach Club, they must traverse Bay Street, and by doing so, they would be able to support Bahamian entrepreneurs. No doubt there will continue to be business for Junkanoo Beach, the most visited beach in the country, as well as nearby Arawak Cay, but certainly it's important for us to continue to enhance and to continue to improve our overall offering for our guests.

“What we need to do is really continue to enhance the product and look at this as a part of an ecosystem that improves the overall experience of The Bahamas but, at the same time, we emphasise that it has to be a win-win.”

Turning to Downtown Nassau’s revitalisation, Mr Cooper said steady progress is being made. “Whenever I'm asked this question, I say that the decay in downtown happened over the last 40 years,” he added. “We're not going to take 40 years to repair some of the things that's under decay. But it's not an overnight fix. It is constant work.

“At 4am in the morning, there are people down there scrubbing and cleaning and moving garbage and watering plants, and doing a whole myriad of things that weren't being done a year ago. We're seeing some overall improvements in some of the structures. This is not something the Government can do on its own.”

Mr Cooper said buildings and properties in the area are mostly owned by Bahamian entrepreneurs who do not take care of them any more. He said some have offered to renovate and create new storefronts, as well as provide murals on some of the buildings.

The deputy prime minister added that more than 10 buildings have been demolished and, over the course of the next two weeks, demolition will continue on the Elizabeth Avenue block. Mr Cooper said he has a draft request for proposals for a space on Bay Street that will be announced shortly.

“I have on my desk at the moment draft request for proposals for hotels and retail and mixed-use developments downtown,” he said. “One for the Levy building space, and one for another space on Bay Street that will be announced shortly, and a third for the old Gaming Bboard space on Cable Beach.

“But I want to tip my hat to the people who do this job every day. It's not easy. You have 12, 15,000 people walking on Bay Street every day. We have some business owners who who are not as co-operative or not as tidy as they as they can be, who do not follow the guidelines set by the by the downtown revitalisation unit in terms of moving garbage and other things.

“So you may walk by at 2pm and 2.30pm. There may be a big bag of garbage there, and you might criticise this unit that's working so hard. So I want to tell you that the work is continuing. There are people who are committed to this exercise and and we're making progress.”