By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Family Islands yesterday revealed a mixed oulook as as Bahamians prepare to celebrate the country’s 53rd Independence, with some enjoying full occupancy driven by international visitors and others revealing bookings are down and plans to close earlier than usual.

Molly McIntosh, a top management executive at Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina in Green Turtle Cay, said the resort is busy heading into the holiday period, although it is not hosting a major Independence celebration of its own. Ms McIntosh added that guests will instead enjoy festivities taking place throughout Green Turtle Cay, including fireworks and community celebrations.

She said occupancy is matching last year’s Independence period, while the restaurant and bar business is slightly stronger. Marina traffic, however, is lower. “I would say that our marina business is slightly down,” Ms McIntosh said.

“However, the rooms and restaurants are right about the same. The restaurant and bar business may be up just slightly.” Ms McIntosh said the resort continues to attract mostly international visitors, although she believes Bahamians are increasingly embracing vacations within The Bahamas.

“I think Bahamians are travelling more to the Family Islands, to the Out Islands, from Nassau,” she said. “I think they’re enjoying it and appreciating getting away from the city and from work and from pressure.” 

Ms McIntosh added that families make up a large share of visitors during the summer months, traditionally the busiest period for Abaco’s tourism industry.

Lee Prosenjak, managing director at Valentine’s Resort and Marina in Harbour Island, described a contrast between the American and Bahamian Independence holidays. He said the resort performed well during the US ‘Fourth of July’ weekend, with the hotel nearly completely occupied.

“The fourth was booked, and I think we only had one room that ended up being unused in the hotel,” he said. However, Mr Prosenjak said Bahamian Independence Day bookings have been significantly weaker than usual.

“For Bahamian Independence Day, it’s pretty slow,” he said. “This feels a lot slower than normal on Bahamian Independence Day. Bahamian Independence Day, we don’t have nearly as many bookings at all.”

Mr Prosenjak suggested that stronger advance promotion of Independence celebrations could help attract more domestic travellers and encourage longer stays. Looking beyond the holiday weekend, he said one encouraging sign is that domestic airfares have remained relatively stable.

“The flight prices on Southern and Pineapple and Western all haven’t gone up at all or changed,” Mr Prosenjak said. “So that’s a good thing.” He added, however, that Bahamians often wait until the last minute before confirming travel plans, making it more difficult for resorts to forecast demand.

Meanwhile, Reginald Wood, management consultant at Exuma Palms Resort, said the property is fully booked for the Independence weekend after also reporting a full occupancy over the US holiday period. He added that most hotel guests are American visitors, although restaurant traffic has also increased.

Mr Wood believes domestic tourism is improving, but said more work is needed to encourage Bahamians to vacation at home. He argued that developing more attractive tourism offerings would encourage greater domestic travel.

“We are seeing an uptick,” he said. “It is moving in the right direction. However, we need to see more Bahamian involvement in local tourism.”

The outlook is less optimistic in Long Island, according to Jill Smith, owner and operator of Stella Maris Resort Club and Marina. She said business across the island has been extremely slow, forcing the resort to close earlier than normal this year.

She explained that only a handful of the property’s Airbnb units have been booked, while July business has been disappointing overall. Ms Smith said the resort now expects to close at the beginning of August because of weak demand, adding that Americans are travelling less while many European visitors are focused on this summer’s sporting events.

She also argued that domestic tourism remains out of reach for many Bahamians because of the high cost of living. “How can an average Bahamian afford? [They] cannot” she said, pointing to high fuel prices, electricity bills, grocery costs, airfares and restaurant prices.

Ms Smith also pointed to transportation challenges as a major obstacle to tourism in Long Island, arguing that limited scheduled flights, fully booked domestic services and inconvenient flight schedules make the destination difficult for visitors to reach.

“Getting here [is] too hard,” she said, adding that travellers often find it easier to vacation at larger resort destinations instead