The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A key Grand Bahama tourism destination is being taken over by the Bahamian franchisee of a pan-Caribbean tour operator through a management agreement that includes an option to later acquire the asset, Tribune Business can reveal.

Sean Basden, who is also the principal of Taino Beach and Flamingo Resorts, yesterday confirmed he has both acquired the Chukka Caribbean franchise “for The Bahamas” and taken over the Garden of The Groves’ management with effect from December 1, 2025.

Responding to this newspaper’s inquiries, he affirmed that the “ultimate plan” is to build upon the Garden’s 50-year heritage and enhance its appeal as a destination for stopover visitors, cruise tourists and local residents - including Carnival’s passengers at the nearby $600m Celebration Key development where Mr Basden and Chukka already operate the water sports and activities.

Declining to go into detail, given that the Garden of The Groves’ management transition and handover is in its early stages, Mr Basden nevertheless confirmed that he and Chukka are taking over an asset once regarded as one of the Caribbean’s top botanical gardens following the passing of its previous operators, Erika and Ed Gates.

“Yes, I did,” he told Tribune Business of the deal. “We’re still in the planning process. We just took over the management on December 1.” Well-placed sources, speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, said Mr Basden and Chukka were especially interested in developing an alternative off-site tour and excursion destination that could cater to Carnival customers when rough weather meant water sports activities were impossible.

“Yes, that’s the ultimate plan,” Mr Basden confirmed, “but I don’t want to make too much comment at this time. We purchased the Chukka franchise ourselves, and we’re taking over the Garden of the Groves’ management and do water sports for Carnival. I’ve been in water sports for 30 years. We just got the [Chukka] franchise. I don’t want to make any formal comments on that at this time.”

Chukka, which is headquartered in Jamaica, now lists Grand Bahama as one of the Caribbean destinations where it operates on its website alongside the likes of Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Belize, the US Virgin Islands and Grand Turk in Turks & Caicos. Founded in the 1980s by Danny Melville and his family, it boasts of offering 122 tours and employing 1,200 staff across the Caribbean while catering to 700,000 tourists annually.

A franchise model, where the local operation is Bahamian-owned, would likely be Chukka’s only option for entering this market given that tour, excursion and attraction businesses are reserved exclusively for 100 percent local ownership under the National Investment Policy.

Denise Neely, the current Garden of the Groves president, disclosed to Tribune Business that the management agreement with Mr Basden and Chukka also includes “the intent to purchase” the botanical gardens operation should the tie-up progressed as planned.

She, too, confirmed that the management changeover and transition was in its early stages and moving “kind of slow” with both parties “figuring out” and “feeling our way” through the arrangement. Ms Neely, though, said the process was likely to speed up and become much clearer once probate of the Gates’ estate was completed.

“They have taken over on a management contract as of December 1,” she said of Chukka. “We’re still going through a slow handover. It’s a management agreement with the intent to purchase. I’m not sure how much I can say right now. It’s going kind of slow. We’re figuring out a whole lot.

“Since Mr Gates passed it’s in probate. Every day we’re learning ourselves what needs to be done. We make plans as to its management with the management agreement. We are feeling our way through. Everything hinges on the probate. Once that is completed we’ll have a clearer understanding. It’s continually moving through.”

Ms Neely said Mr Basden and Chukka are likely poised to build on the heritage established by the Garden of the Groves, which was created in 1973 by Wallace Groves, one of Freeport’s “founding fathers” and his wife, Georgette, and maintain it as an attraction and destination for Bahamians, residents and tourists alike.

“That’s pretty the way that Garden of the Groves operates and functions now,” she added. “It’s always been a destination for cruise passengers, as well as other guests and locals. No improvements have started yet, and the Garden of the Groves is running the way it has been in the past. We’re focusing on the administrative side and hand over happening. There have been no physical changes yet.

“The Garden welcomes visitors every day. Since Celebration Key happened, in the last part of the season we’ve seen an increase in business. The pick-up was significant. We have tour operators, taxi drivers and other guests coming. Chukka wants to upgrade the Garden at present. It will be a slow process, bit by bit, watching the market and what Carnival is doing.

“They do have plans on the table,” Ms Neely added of Chukka. “At the end of the day, it should be keeping things the way locals have always known it to be, and what he Gardens are intended to be, but moving to a new type of operations. They’re not going to move away from that [heritage]. It’s just improving, and that’s going to take time and using the Garden.

“We want to see it continuing to grow. Grand Bahama is evolving, so everything around it is evolving as well. It’s keeping with the times. The staff are still here. Everybody is still employed and operating the same way and working harmoniously together. We don’t know what the final thing will look like, but we know what we hope. We’re hoping everything can happen soon.”

It is unclear how any purchase by Mr Basden and Chukka would be structured, and if this would only involve the Garden of the Groves operation and business as opposed to the 12-acre real estate it sits on. Tribune Business research showed the property is owned by the Grand Bahama Development Company (DevCO), which in turn is owned 50/50 by Hutchison Whampoa and the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) Port Group Ltd.

It was previously leased to Parrott Jungle of Miami, but Mrs Gates, of Grand Bahama Nature Tours, and Michelle Hanson took it over in fall 2007 after the former walked away following the devastation inflicted on Garden of the Groves in 2004 by hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. They formed Bahamas Parks, Gardens & Recreation to execute the project and restored it to a facility with 10,000 species of flowers, shrubs, trees and plant life that attracts birds and other wildlife.

Tribune Business sources voiced optimism that the deal with Mr Basden and Chukka will boost what is a prominent and well-known location in Freeport and wider Grand Bahama. “It’s got to be kept going,” one said. “It’s a wonderful property and needs to be used properly.”

Another confirmed: “Chukka are not taking over the lease but have a management contract with Erika Gates’ company. It’s good news. They will obviously be bringing customers and Garden of the Groves is an important tourism asset. I think it’s good news.”

Garden of the Groves is around a 20-minute drive from Carnival’s Celebration Key project, and a contact said of Mr Basden and Chukka: “This is a bit of an expansion of their programme to offer their guests something to do when they can’t do water sports because of the weather.”