By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

THE full impact of the Government’s boating fee reforms will not become clear until the Christmas season, as one marina operator yesterday asserted that only then will the industry know how many long-standing visitors have been permanently lost to rival destinations.

Lee Prosenjak, managing director of Valentine’s Resort & Marina in Harbour Island, said the April 1 introduction of lower cruising permit fees for certain vessels came too late to influence this year’s travel decisions, arguing that many boaters had already committed to alternative destinations.

“It’s still the same,” Mr Prosenjak said. “Even though that changed on April 1, it doesn’t mean that anybody that was going to take a trip changed their plans and showed up in The Bahamas instead of going anywhere else, like Turks and Caicos.

“I think we won’t see any noticeable difference from that rate deduction until Christmas’ until next season. Christmas will be telling of how many long-standing patrons we’ve lost. That’s when we’ll know.”

His comments add to concerns voiced by other marina operators that the Government’s reversal of some of last year’s controversial boating fee increases has yet to restore confidence among recreational boaters, particularly those travelling from Florida.

The Government introduced two new cruising permit fee categories on April 1 in an effort to regain business after widespread criticism that last year’s fee structure had made The Bahamas less competitive than rival destinations. However, Mr Prosenjak said the industry’s recovery depends on far more than permit costs.

“But that’s assuming if this war is still going on, and if gas prices have increased dramatically around the world,” he said. “They came back down in price in the US. They didn’t go back in The Bahamas. In fact, they’ve increased in The Bahamas. So now we’re at a place where government-regulated fuel is now priced much higher than in the US again. That doesn’t help.

“And just overall international travel being down quite a bit from the US are all factors that can hurt us. Those are outside of our control. We can’t do anything about the Strait of Hormuz.”

Mr Prosenjak said bookings for the latter part of 2026 have started to come through, although the marina sector traditionally experiences a high level of last-minute reservations and cancellations.

“We’ve had some advanced bookings for the fall and into Christmas and things like that,” he said. “But boating is such a last-minute business for a lot of people with boats that are constantly breaking down and things, that on a good year we’re only ever going to see probably 85 percent of those bookings anyway. So there’s probably a 15 percent cancellation rate, no matter what time of year.”

Based on current trends, Mr Prosenjak said there is little reason to expect a stronger performance next season. “With what we’re seeing right now, I would say that next season looks about the same as this season, which is pretty dry,” he said.

“And that’s, again, bad for everybody because even the restaurants and hotels that are on the island that don’t have a marina associated with them, they’re probably all down between 20 and 25 percent this year from what I’ve heard from the other general managers.

“The marina business is definitely down, probably 50 percent this year, and hotels are down 20 to 25 percent.” Mr Prosenjak’s assessment follows similar reports from other Family Island operators.

Molly McIntosh, general manager of Bluff House Beach Resort & Marina in Abaco, recently said marina business at the property had declined by between 15 percent and 20 percent this summer despite hotel rooms, restaurants and vacation villas continuing to perform well.

She attributed the weakness to a combination of last year’s boating fee controversy, higher fuel costs and inflation affecting US boaters, particularly families travelling on smaller recreational vessels from Florida.

Stephen Kappeler, managing director of Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina, also argued that the Government’s revisions came too late to prevent many visitors from changing their travel plans, warning that the decline in boating arrivals hurts restaurants, retailers and other businesses that depend on marina traffic.