Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism has set the date for all resorts to be opened again and resume their business. However, we have news that the Baha Mar mega-resort will delay this date. This is not the first resort in Bahama to have made such a decision. Sandals Royal Bahamian is also setting a date beyond October 15.
Sandals’ website says that their reopening date could not be any sooner than January 28, 2021. In the meantime, Baha Mar’s operatives have pointed out strongly that the Cable Beach mega-resort and its end-to-end Melia Nassau Beach hotel may still be closed until late December and possibly will not make it for 2021.
What the statement means is that two out of Nassau’s three major resorts are not to be re-opened within the schedule programmed by the Ministry of Tourism. Regardless of these unfortunates, K. Peter Turnquest, the country’s minister of finance, described this strategy “a wrinkle” in The Bahamas’ economy where the coronavirus has driven the travel industry further away from its destination.
Daniel Lozano, Melia’s general manager talked to the employees, just to mention the reason behind this delay. He said that the analysis of the current COVID-19 infection rates, has led us to see both in The Bahamas and its key US tourism sources are high markets.
Graeme Davis, Baha Mar’s president, seems to be very disappointed to agree on the delay in re-opening resorts. This means controlling the disaster originated from the virus was harder than they expected. The Baha Mar decision followed the declaration from Dionisio D’Aguilar the minister of tourism and aviation. He pointed out a date and assured everyone in the business that hotels and resorts will be re-opened, beginning October 15. There is no doubt that the tourism industry is eager to get back to making money and people are just tired of sitting put, but the safety that these hotels are going to provide, has to have high standards, otherwise, why take the risk?