By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas’ top tourism official yesterday said Grand Bahama was “really getting back into business” with 84 percent of hotels, and 55 percent of the island’s attractions, now receiving visitors.

Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, told the Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM) 2020 conference: “When we got into the campaign immediately following Hurricane Dorian, letting the world know that 14 islands welcome you with open arms, Freeport was not included, but we had to change that to 15 islands because Freeport has rebounded so quickly.

“One hundred percent of their cruise lines are operating, 84 percent of the hotels are open, 84 percent of restaurants, 75 percent of tours and 55 percent of attractions are open. So they are saying ‘C’mon, give us a chance, we are really getting back into business’.”

Mrs Jibrilu, however, was unable to give such positive news about Abaco. She said: “The Abacos continue to be truly a sad story... because it is a long road ahead for Abaco, and so much is needed. I think we have all seen the independent forecasts of what the projected cost of the damage is, and that is $3.4bn.

“So the government has to completely rebuild Abaco. It has a long way to go, but I need to be clear. Marsh Harbour is not open but South Abaco, they are trying to get back to some level of normalcy and give the people who have remained in Abaco to rebuild from the ground up some options.”

“We know that Abaco will be out of business for the foreseeable future so that is not even, at this time, in our consideration. Grand Bahama has emerged strongly. I shared a slide, it showed exactly where we were with Grand Bahama; 100 percent of cruise lines are back, 85 percent of hotel properties and more. So they are back in business and, like the rest of The Bahamas, doing really well.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism, added: “Certainly Grand Bahama is coming back on stream slowly, while Abaco has some work to do. Obviously the heart and soul of Abaco is Marsh Harbour, and that is still very much on its knees; the power hasn’t fully been restored. But as you go south, in South Abaco most of the properties there are up and ready for business, so it’s just a function to get it back ever so slowly.”

Focusing on Grand Bahama, he added: “Grand Bahama has been challenged for a while. Four percent of our stopover visitors went to Grand Bahama, so it was a small and diminishing percentage.

“What Grand Bahama lacks is scale. I mean, when I looked at, and when I asked for a report on how many hotel rooms are open and saleable in Grand Bahama, it’s 775, which is half the size of the Hyatt, in the whole of Grand Bahama.”

Mr D’Aguilar continued: “Now that’s not the Airbnb products and all of that, and all of those other options. They need scale. They desperately need scale, they need this Grand Lucayan property to come on stream to create scale, and then with scale comes lift and then economic impact. So Grand Bahama needs investment in its tourism infrastructure.

“Then to throw into this mix you have this Hurricane Dorian that comes and really disrupts things again, and that throws into the mix the airport. The airport now is destroyed. The operator and owner of the airport, Hutchison Ports, has rebuilt a small terminal but it’s not in its former glory primarily because arrivals into the destination are not what they were pre-Dorian. The government recognises for any growth to happen on that island, something has to be done with that airport.

Mr D’Aguilar urged Bahamians to be patient and “bear with them” as the Government considers its options over the best possible outcome for Grand Bahama International Airport.