By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Tourism executives yesterday shrugged off Atlantis’ decision to temporarily close the Coral Towers and said “forward bookings look as if they’re going to be quite strong”.

Latia Duncombe, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, reiterated that resorts undergo maintenance and improvements during the slower part of the tourism season. She added that she is looking forward to “rooms coming back on stream, renovated, improved and even better than before”.

“From time to time, properties choose slower seasons to make the necessary repairs to make sure that the standard and the visitor experience is surely what it should be in the islands of The Bahamas,” Mrs Duncombe said.

“And this happens throughout the entire destination and throughout the entire region. You have to select the time to make sure that the property’s maintenance continues to happen. And so no, not a concern.”

She added: “I would say that properties make decisions internally in terms of the best time to choose to provide maintenance upgrades. At the end of the day, it’s all about the visitor experience, making sure that the property itself is delivering on the experience that we’ve told our visitors that they’re going to have at the properties at the destination.

“Maintenance is always required. And so these companies make a decision on timing; when is the best time. And so they’ve made the decision; this is the time. They’re also facilitating all of the guests into other towers. And so certainly we are excited, or we look forward, I would say, to the rooms coming back on stream, renovated, improved and even better than before.”

Joy Jibrilu, chief executive of the Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board, said: “We all know that in the summer months, numbers dwindle. And, of course, to some degree, you never want to see any of your rooms shut down. But if that means greater occupancy for the Royal Towers and for the Cove and the Reef, well that would be great.

“So rather than spreading it, we’re concentrating it. And what it also means is that we just hope for a much stronger end of third quarter, fourth quarter, and, in fact, the forward bookings are looking as if they’re going to be quite strong. So that’s very, very positive.

Mrs Duncombe predicted a strong finish to 2025, adding: “We’ve seen our global sales missions in Florida. We were in Canada earlier this year for the director’s spring visit. It. I was there again for our global sales missions. We’re going to have 26 non-stop flights starting in the fall from Toronto into Nassau. Another mission is being planned. So we do expect a strong finish to the year.

“From time to time, we do look at the numbers, we do look at the visitor experiences, but we continue to promote the destination. We’ve launched our new campaign. It’s not just one island, it’s a lifetime of them, reminding our visitors there’s so much to see and to do in the islands of The Bahamas. If you’ve only seen one or two or three islands, you’ve not seen it all - 16 islands for our visitors to come enjoy, and also to explore.”

Despite entering the slow season, Mrs Duncombe said The Bahamas is currently at its peak due to the upcoming Goombay Summer Festival which will showcase Bahamian culture. “So some seasons, I would say, are softer than others,” she added. “I would never say that it’s slow; just a little bit softer than others.

“And, right now, we’re in the peak of our cultural season, Goombay Summer Festival, that will be held on the streets of Nassau tomorrow [today], and we’re going to be having an amazing time. Goombay is a time where we have festivals throughout all of the islands of The Bahamas.

“So that energy, that excitement, our artisans, our Bahamian artists, our foods; there’s nothing like Bahamian foods, it’s all going to be on display. So for our visitors that are here, they can come and enjoy and, globally, we continue to market and promote the destination.”