By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama stakeholders say the sale and redevelopment of the Grand Lucayan resort could lead to the island’s recovery — but only if it helps attract the critical mass of people and investment necessary for sustained growth.

Government officials formally confirmed the sale and planned redevelopment of the Grand Lucayan resort last week, a move officials hailed as a game-changer for Grand Bahama’s stalled economy.

Some Grand Bahama residents are more cautious with their optimism.

Kirk Antoni, a prominent attorney, noted that Grand Bahama has suffered repeated blows, from hurricanes since 2004 to the COVID-19 pandemic, without full recovery. While he believes the resort project offers hope, he emphasised that achieving “critical mass” is still the island’s biggest challenge.

“Without critical mass we are never going to grow,” Mr Antoni said. “Now, hopefully, this new news with the Grand Lucayan is going to produce this critical mass. But my question is, how soon will we start seeing the critical mass?”

He said Freeport, with a population of around 45,000, needs to double its numbers to be viable, though he welcomed the sale as “positive news for Freeport and Grand Bahama” and stressed the need for airport redevelopment to attract serious investors.

He also warned against overreliance on the cruise industry, arguing that most profits return to cruise operators despite some local gains from passenger taxes.

“My biggest concern as a Freeporter is that we have sold our soul to the cruise ship industry,” he said. “Everywhere you go in the Bahamas now, cruise ships have an island or two. And pretty soon in Freeport, the way the talk is, we will probably have three. Celebration Key with Carnival, Xanadu Beach with RCL, and if the sip sip is true, we will have MSC; the new Grand Lucayan wants to knock down the Memories and turn into a water slide theme park.

“So, you will have lot of cruise ship passengers roaming up and down the beaches, but guess where all the money goes right back to? The cruise ships. All we get is the passenger tax, which is about $40.”

He called for more boutique hotels and growth in eastern Grand Bahama to foster a new urban centre.

Marketing professional Sarah Kirkby described the Grand Lucayan redevelopment as “extremely exciting”, highlighting the seven-phase plan’s potential to transform Lucaya. She said, paired with other initiatives like Celebration Key, the shipyard expansion, and WAUSM Medical School, the island could finally thrive.

“Like all Grand Bahamians, I am a bit wary and want to see the full plans and work begin at the hotel. I just hope our PM is working on the airport deal, which I think is key to making this all come to fruition,” she said.

Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce President Dillon Knowles also stressed the island’s lack of population density, saying businesses cannot thrive without more residents and export-driven industries.

He said Freeport has ample room to grow.

“We could put almost all the Bahamians in the country in Freeport, and still have enough space,” he said.

“Domestic businesses can only be successful if we had enough people in Grand Bahama for them to sell goods and services. We currently do not have that critical mass yet.”

Mr Knowles pointed to tourism, logistics, and maritime sectors as growth opportunities and called on Bahamians to take the initiative rather than waiting on external investors.

“We are our own worst enemy in this regard. We keep waiting for somebody else to come and do something so we could get a job rather than pooling our resources to develop things to create jobs,” he said.

He acknowledged that cruise tourism doesn’t deliver high-spending visitors individually but can still generate substantial revenue at scale. The Grand Lucayan, he noted, aims to cater to cruise passengers, air travellers, and locals.

He called for a unified strategy for the island’s future.

“Not a tourism vision, not a maritime vision, but a vision for all of GB,” he said.

“No one person can do it by themselves. We need to work together; the government, the Port Authority, the business community, and employees of Grand Bahama to provide products to the world that are desirable and can bring economic prosperity to Grand Bahama.”