Close to 3,000 hotel rooms, spread between five hotels, will soon be opened in The Bahamas. While the thrice-delayed opening of Baha Mar will keep the vast majority of rooms "in the pipeline", growing demand in Grand Bahama - and to a lesser extent Nassau/Paradise Island - means the room inventory will be eagerly anticipated.

STR Global, a renowned travel researcher and analyst, reported that at the end of March 2015, 2,670 rooms were "under construction" in The Bahamas, with 19 others in the "final planning" phase.

Yesterday, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe told Guardian Business the new and diverse inventory is "certainly welcome".

"We need more inventory to contend with the growing demand not only of the potential traveling public, but equally important because of the continuing need to create employment.

"The Bahamas has been somewhat sluggish in inventory growth while our competitors in the Caribbean have been robust in their growth. While The Bahamas has under 17,000 hotel rooms, Cuba and the Dominican Republic have more than 50,000 each, and Jamaica has more than 30,000. To improve the return on the investment that is made for the promotion of the sector, additional rooms will see a much higher yield," he said.

"The Bahamas must prepare for the future or again find itself on the roller coaster ride allowing our competitors to gain leverage offering diversity and greater appeal," the minister said.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian