Month: July 2009

The Bahamas National Trust (BNT) is looking to add to its 25 national parks, but this time around they are proposing that a marine park be established in southwest New Providence.

If approved, the park will be the first to be located in waters off New Providence.

Organizers behind the initiative, which has been dubbed the Southwest Marine Park Project, are looking to turn waters and marine life, stretching from east of Old Fort Point to south of Adelaide, into protected park land.

…Continue readingNational Trust Proposes Marine Park

A top Kerzner executive is confirming that the Atlantis Resort will retain its work permit policy, despite the tight economy — a move coming as Bahamian calls intensify for a crackdown on permit issuance.

“In every instance where a work permit is held it is because of the value that the permit holder brings to the organization,” Atlantis spokesman Ed Fields told Guardian Business. “Whether in good times or bad times, work permits are based on that philosophy [and] quite naturally it follows that in difficult economic times all positions are analyzed based on the value to the organization.
…Continue readingAtlantis Will Retain Work Permit Policy

The most serious impact of the global financial and economic crisis on the smallest Caribbean economies, including The Bahamas, has been the downturn in the tourism industry, The Bahamas’ Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has said.
…Continue readingIngraham Admits Global Crisis Hurting Caribbean

Old Bahama Bay hotel in West End, Grand Bahama, will lay off 85 staff members tomorrow, The Nassau Guardian can confirm.
…Continue readingOld Bahama Bay Resort To Lay Off More Staff

Tourism officials in Grand Bahama are hoping that a number of initiatives launched on the island, including the hosting of several segments of the Miss Universe Pageant in August, will help to boost tourism numbers and thus the ailing economy.
…Continue readingTourism Officials Hope Miss Universe Will Boost Grand Bahama Tourism

U.S.-based Mountain Lake Development Company (MLDC) has filed a $3 million lawsuit against Japan-based Mitsui Corporation and PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) along with several other parties, claiming that the companies have refused to refund the money that was held in escrow as a deposit when it was in the running to buy the Emerald Bay development in Exuma a few months ago.
…Continue readingEmerald Bay Bidder Sues

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) has embarked on a new project to construct a new bridge, which will carry the Grand Bahama Highway over the Lucayan Waterway.
…Continue readingNew Bridge Between East and West Grand Bahama

The Miss Universe 2009 contest will be held at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, The Bahamas and will be televised around the world. With a world stage, The Bahamas…Continue readingBahamas on Show During Miss Universe Pageant

Earnest efforts and promotions to attract visitors to countries in the Caribbean region, including the Bahamas, have so far failed in bringing the number of tourists to our shores to match last year’s numbers, Prime Minister Ingraham revealed.

Speaking at the Regional Forum on the Occasion of the Inter-American Development Bank’s 50th Anniversary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Friday, Mr Ingraham said that despite serious discounting and other incentives offered in the travel and hotel deals, occupancy levels remain well below those achieved last year by all of the Caribbean tourism economies.

And on the employment front, he said, to date the economic downturn has resulted in 2,200 lay-offs in the Bahamas’ hotel sector, which amounts to one per cent of the country’s entire work force.

Mr Ingraham said that the Bahamas was one of the first countries in the region to feel the effects of the slowing global economy.
…Continue readingTourism Suffering Despite Promos and Incentives

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham says the most serious impact that the global financial and economic crisis has had on small Caribbean economies, like The Bahamas, has been the downturn in the tourism industry.
…Continue readingEconomic Crisis Battering Bahamas Tourism