The Tribune

BY NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A LONG-SERVING Bimini dock master yesterday hailed last weekend’s US Labour Day holiday as “one of the busiest I’ve seen for a long time” for the island’s marinas and hotels although other Bahamian boating destinations did not fare so well.

Robbie Smith, a Bimini Big Game Club veteran of 36 years, attributed the strength of the year’s last US holiday weekend to the Government’s June 2026 boating fee and cruise permit reforms which both reduced costs and made The Bahamas more appealing for the Florida day-trippers and smaller vessels that comprise much of his island’s boating market.

Asserting that the two newly-created cruising permit fee categories had “a big impact”, he added that the past weekend “reminded me of how Labour Day used to be years and years ago” with both marina berths and beds in short supply throughout Bimini for those who failed to book in advance.

However, Bimini’s upbeat US Labour Day performance did not appear to be matched on other Bahamian islands. Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, told Tribune Business that business volumes at Bay Street Marina were down 10-15 percent against last year’s Labour Day weekend, and 30 percent off against comparisons from when the boating fees “were good”.

Revealing that the sector is seeking a meeting with Glenys Hanna Martin, newly-appointed minister of tourism, so she can here its “pleas” to alter policy course, Mr Maury renewed calls for The Bahamas to reset its approach to a boating/yachting market that was buffeted by a series of fee hikes under the first Davis administration.

Asserting that “it’s time to make the change”, the ABM president argued: “We need to bring The Bahamas back to the forefront of the yachting industry.” With this nation “losing market share” and tourists to rival Caribbean destinations, he urged this nation to “go back to where we started to make it easy” for visiting boaters while also resuming the post-Dorian “messaging” that The Bahamas is “open for business”.

Nassau was not the only location where Labour Day was less than robust. Lee Prosenjak, managing director at Valentine's Resort and Marina in Harbour Island, told this newspaper that the US holiday was typically “not a big day for us” and other Family Islands and his property’s boating numbers were “predictably soft”.

Predicting that the full impact of the Government’s June 2026 boating fee changes will only start to become evident in December, when the winter season kicks-off, Mr Prosenjak pointed out that many vessel owners are unable to obtain the necessary insurance coverage to either come to The Bahamas at this time or leave their boats here because it coincides with the hurricane season peak.

He added that many other Briland resorts are now temporarily closed as Bahamian tourism enters what is typically the slowest part in its annual cycle. However, relatively slow Labour Day business in other parts of The Bahamas was not reflected in Bimini, the closest island to the US with just 50 miles separating it from south Florida.

“We were real busy,” Mr Smith told Tribune Business of Bimini Big Game Club. “When I say full, the marina was about at 100 percent, the hotel looked full, the restaurant looked full. This was one of the busiest Labour Day weekends I’ve seen for a long time; since Bacardi owned the place. It’s been real busy.

“The whole island was busy. You couldn’t find a bed, a room anywhere, or a boat berth. The price was dropping at the right time for everyone. This was the last big US holiday.” Mr Smith confirmed that, by price, he was referring to the new cruising permit categories, lower fees and greater clarity provided by the Government’s boating fee changes earlier this year.

“I think that had a big impact. That played a big role,” he added. “The cost went down. This one-time Labour Day weekend reminded me of how Labour Day used to be years and years ago. It came back tremendously. Dropping the price attracted back a lot of boats.

“Boaters said that, now the price has dropped, they are going to be coming. That was a big boost after the price dropped. We are only 50 miles away [from the US]. That’s less than a two-hour run for those boats to get here.” Looking ahead to September and October, which is traditionally the slowest part of the tourism season, Mr Smith said he was optimistic that visiting divers will keep Bimini Big Game’s occupancies at 80-90 percent.

Bimini’s boating market was among the biggest beneficiaries of the cruising permit adjustments. The Government created two new classes of cruising permit fees - one for short-term stays of 30 days or less, and the other covering six months or less. The 30-day fees for vessels less than 50 feet in length are between 50-70 percent lower than those associated with the pre-existing one-year permit.

Besides the two new cruising permit categories, the Government also sought to clear-up confusion over whether the anchorage fees implemented with the 2025-2026 Budget apply to both vessels docked in marinas or those anchored out. Materials issued to Customs officers plainly state that these fees must only be paid by the latter, adding: “Only pleasure vessels entering that are not docking at a marina are subject to anchorage fees.”

The Government in June revised the anchorage fees to incorporate the two new cruising permit categories, with the charges based on length of vessel and stay. For example, foreign pleasure vessels less than 30 feet in length - and cleared into The Bahamas on a 30-day cruising permit - will pay a $50 anchorage fee.

That is just 25 percent, or one-quarter, of the $200 that boats with a 12-month permit, and less than 50 feet in length, will pay. The reductions are even greater the larger the vessel is, with boats 100 feet or more in length paying a $200 anchorage fee on a 30-day permit - a sum that is less than one-seventh of the $1,500 paid for a 12-month stay.

But, away from Bimini, Mr Maury said US Labour Day - which traditionally marks the end of The Bahamas’ boating season - was “very slow, very slow’. He added: “In Nassau, we barely had any boats and Exuma was said to be empty. On a call last week, even Abaco was complaining. I don’t think it was too good for anybody.

“Compared to last year we were off 10-15 percent, but when the rates were good we are off 30 percent. The boats then were staying until Labour Day, staying right through. Now, there are barely any boats in The Bahamas. Year-over-year, we keep losing market share. The 2021-2022 period was reasonable for us. The boats stayed longer, and in 2020 the stayed right through Christmas and everything else.

“In 2021-2022 we had good reservations right through summer. We really saw a drop in 2023-2024, and obviously 2025-2026 was way worse. To me, it’s just shrinking our GDP (gross domestic product) in the hospitality sector.” Mr Maury said boating/yachting visitors are typically among The Bahamas’ highest spending tourists, and play a key role in distributing the industry’s impact to the Family Islands and more remote communities.

“In the Family Islands, they don’t have anything to fall back on. In Nassau, the residents and some businesses, if the cruise ships come in, they have some type of business,” the ABM chief said. “In the Family Islands, they now have fewer stayovers and in the marinas business is dismal. There are no cruise ships to fill that gap, and the ones that are going, they stay in the private islands. The passengers don’t go outside the likes of Princess Cay.”

Mr Maury said he and the ABM are still waiting to receive a reply to their request for a meeting with Mrs Hanna Martin and senior tourism officials. “I don’t know if it matters,” he added. “That’s where we are. The hurry up and wait game. I’m sure there’s other folks in front of us, but I would like to think that, at some point, the new minister of tourism would sit down and listen to our pleas.

“We need to bring The Bahamas back to the forefront of the yachting industry. We need to make the change, make the difference. We’ve already passed the changes in law and policy, and those did not help anybody, most of all local Bahamian businesses.” Asked what The Bahamas needs to do, Mr Maury suggested that it improve the ease of access and cost for visiting boaters, plus send out the message they are welcome in The Bahamas.

“We should go back to where we started, make it easy,” he told Tribune Business. “The Bahamas after Dorian, the Ministry of Tourism did a big push to get the word out that The Bahamas was open for business. By the time COVID rolled around, we had good messaging going out constantly. It’s that which I hope they would consider.”

Describing boating and yachting as critical components of The Bahamas’ high-end tourism market, Mr Maury said: “We should not intentionally give that up, and give it up to our competitors. If they go somewhere else and like it, they may buy a home and go live there. What are we doing here? Why give anybody an excuse to go anywhere else? We should be everybody’s destination. That’s the messaging, and I pray it gets put into effect.

“Make it like it was. It’s time to make the change. We have a new minister of tourism. Sit down with the people that know and make the change.” The ABM president added that the marina and boating sectors provided a major opportunity for Bahamians to access entrepreneurial opportunities and good, high-paying jobs.

Mr Prosenjak, meanwhile, said of Valentine’s Resort on Harbour Island: “Labour Day is not really a big day for us on a normal basis. It was predictably soft. As you would have imagined, we don’t really do anything for it. There’s not really much call for it in the Out Islands; to come across for a three-day weekend…

“I don’t think we’ll really see any difference until obviously December, when the season for marinas really starts to pick up in terms of the reduction in boating fees back to what it was before.” Noting that many boats are restricted by their insurance coverage on whether they can be present in The Bahamas at this time at the peak of hurricane season, he added that Valentine’s and Pink Sands are the only two major hotels still open on Briland.