Tourism: A Peek at the Competition

[Historian]

Slated to arise nearly in the shadow of Atlantis on the Bahamas’ Paradise Island -- and about the only project big enough to overshadow the Atlantis mega-resort -- the new, $2-billion Baha Mar project will be partly owned by Harrah's Entertainment and managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, project officials have announced.

The huge new destination resort will arise on 1,000 acres on New Providence Island's fabled but somewhat faded Cable Beach area. The project -- billed as the largest destination resort in the Caribbean -- will include a series of Starwood branded hotels, including a W, St. Regis, Westin, and Sheraton.




Harrah's will run gambling operations at the resort, including at a planned Caesar's Resort Hotel at Baha Mar that will have 1,000 guest rooms and a 100,000-square-foot casino.

Grandiose plans for Baha Mar feature:
* hotels with a mix of Colonial, European and African architecture and a total of 3,000 hotel rooms
* an expansive "water boulevard"
* a 50-foot circular waterfall
* at least two spas
* an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus championship golf course
* 200,000 square feet of meeting space
* 3,000 feet of beachfront

Link: http://gocaribbean.about.com/od/hotels/a/BahaMarBahamas.htm

Baha Mar official site: http://www.bahamar.com/

[Mosiah]

Cho! Wait till our giant Spanish hotels start putting in their casinos! Is 3,000 rooms one a dem have!

[Historian]

And Cuba?

My Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8661734.stm

Page last updated at 09:38 GMT, Wednesday, 5 May 2010 10:38 UK

Cuba allows foreign investment in tourism



Golf went out of favour after the Cuban revolution in 1959

Cuba has announced plans to allow foreigners to develop golf courses, marinas and related land projects to boost the nation's tourism industry.
Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero said Havana was in advanced talks with "several potential foreign partners".
The Communist government is reportedly considering granting foreigners medium- to long-term leases of real estate, as Cuba prohibits foreign ownership.

Havana hopes the measures will attract more affluent tourists to the island.

Last year, some 2.4 million tourists visited Cuba, but many of them came for short stays and spent less money.

'Golf is key'
"A policy was approved that permits real estate development associated with tourism, fundamentally golf courses, marinas and other complementary tourist investments," Mr Marrero said at Cuba's annual International Tourism Fair on Tuesday.

He said the move aimed at "developing regions that today are virgin".
The cash-strapped Caribbean island now wants to attract a more affluent, bigger-spending class of tourist and golf is seen as the key, the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana says.

Currently there is only one 18-hole golf course in the whole of Cuba. However, there are plans for 10 new courses, several of which are in an advanced stage of planning.

A number of European and Canadian investment firms have proposed building golf courses coupled with luxury sea front apartments and villas.

But in a country with no real estate market, where Cubans are not allowed to buy or sell their homes, the government has long been wary of allowing foreigners to own property, our correspondent says.

So under the new deal medium- to long-term leases may be allowed if linked to golf courses.

[Historian]

Fully Agree With You!!

Cho! Wait till our giant Spanish hotels start putting in their casinos! Is 3,000 rooms one a dem have!

Actually, I agree 100 percent with you, Mosiah! And not only the Spanish, as if I recall correctly, Jamaica’s UDC (I think its that body) plans to build the biggest marina in the western hemisphere.

I’m NOT posting these updates for the purpose of encouraging any sort of comparison with Jamaica, because I believe firmly that Jamaica has a much, much brighter future than the Bahamas (they seem to have reached their limit), the Dominican Republic (vastly overrated tourism product), St Lucia, Aruba, or any of the other regional nation states. Rather, my ONLY reason for posting these is to bring readers of this forum up to date with what is happening elsewhere in the Caribbean.

[HL]

"...our giant Spanish hotels..."

gwane.....hehehee

[Mosiah]

Understood and appreciated!

And don't get me wrong - I do believe we should reach out to our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters and get them to partake of our tourism product. I just think it will never be even 20% of our visitors from the US or Europe.

But things and times change. You never know what may happen politically or geographically (volcanic activity?) and we may have to rely on our neighbours closer to us. Afterall, they will be bringing the yankee dollar too!

[Mosiah]

den awhofah?

[Historian]

2009: Caribbean Performance

Note to Self: It’s no wonder Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has been smiling so broadly in recent times! Jamaica continues to perform really well (those other countries have not been sitting idly; they have been trying their best)!!

My Source: The Nassau Guardian online (Friday, May 7, 2010)
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bix...8383289211.php

Bahamas trailing other Caribbean destinations

By INDERIA SAUNDERS ~ Guardian Business Reporter ~ inderia@nasguard.com


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Out of 19 million tourists that visited the Caribbean last year, The Bahamas was able to win roughly 7 percent of that group, with four other countries beating this nation in attracting the most visitors to their shores.

It's a revelation that came this week in the United Nations World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) Outlook for the Caribbean Region.

According to Caribbean Hotels and Tourism Investment Conference presenter Carlos Vogeler, international tourist arrivals to the entire Caribbean was down 3.2 percent to 19.4 million arrivals coming all of last year. The regional director for the Americas said they were visitors that contributed to a total of $22.4 billion in receipts recorded in 2009, although that was down by 4.1 percent from the year-ago period.

The preliminary results announced at the conference showed that The Bahamas was able to attract roughly 1.3 million visitors all of last year, with Dominican Republic winning over the greatest share of visitors at 21 percent of total arrivals.

For that latin country, it means they saw around 4 million of the region's total tourists touch their shores. Puerto Rico was right behind it with 3.4 million arrivals, about 18 percent of the total and Cuba's 12 percent translating into 2.3 million arrivals. Jamaica also captured more than The Bahamas, with 9 percent of total arrivals at 1.7 million of the traveling 19 million.

While Aruba came behind The Bahamas in air arrivals - with just around 4 percent in total arrivals - the country appeared to be able to win over more of that $22.4 billion receipt category, with this nation being lumped in the "rest" category of countries that shared what was left of the money to be earned from the tourism industry.

And even as The Bahamas saw visitor arrivals decline in 2009, Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic was able to increase arrivals during the peak of a recession slashing the vacation budgets of many.

At this point, the UNWTO is not projecting arrival growth for The Bahamas for the 2010 period, unlike the projections for at least six other island nations in the region.

Friday, May 7, 2010

[TDowl]

"Jamaica’s UDC (I think its that body) plans to build the biggest marina in the western hemisphere." where in Jamaica?

There is an article about Spanish Group Fiesta looking at the South Coast, and dem mention Font Hill(Mi nah seh a offa prperty dat), it seems it is quite level for a airport and all, not mention the jump off point to the Pedro Cays.

Ah weh Historian?