Residents on Abaco last week said they were looking forward to the completion of work on the airport terminal in Marsh Harbour, and the government's promise to sign a contract for a hospital on that island.
Abaconians who spoke to The Nassau Guardian said the two developments are a long time coming, and added that the tourist hub is still grappling with intermittent power cuts and bad roads.
Byron Glinton, director of reservations and leisure sales at the Abaco Beach Resort, said the new terminal should bolster tourist arrivals to the island. Glinton said because Abaco is one of the priciest destinations in the region, it caters to wealthy visitors who expect the comforts of home even when they travel to an island destination.
"You constantly hear complaints about the airport. To have an airport that big and beautiful is definitely going to leave an indelible impression on the guests coming here," Glinton told The Nassau Guardian during an interview at the resort.
"We cater to a very affluent guest in the Abacos because nothing here is cheap. It is probably one of the most
expensive places you can come to in terms of an airline rate in the Caribbean. The airport is going to go a long way with guest satisfaction. It's definitely going to have an impact on business," Glinton said.
Work is ongoing at the new terminal at the Leonard Thompson International Airport in Marsh Harbour.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told Abaco residents that his administration planned to sign a contract for the construction of a hospital in Central Abaco by the end of the month.
Glinton said Abaco, home to more than 16,000 residents and many second-home owners, needs the facility so visitors and locals can avoid the expense of flying to the capital in an emergency.
"One of the major complaints that any visitor would have is, 'what if I get sick?' You have a lot of baby boomers that come here, a lot of people over the age of 60. At that age you experience the most health concerns. One of their major concerns is medical care costs, if you have any emergency you have to charter a flight to get into Nassau.
"To hear the news from Health Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis that they are going to have a theater here, a fully-functioning hospital, is good news. All of that is going to be strong for tourism and the local economy."
One Abaco shopkeeper said the new airport terminal has been a promise from the country's leaders for decades. Still she said she was grateful for the much-needed upgrades in spite of the delay of construction.
"They've been promising Abaco that new airport now since the early 1990s and it's finally coming around," said the shopkeeper, who did not want to be identified.
She added that BEC still has challenges keeping Abaco's lights on.
"We still have a huge BEC problem up here, huge, we don't know why, that's the bottom line. But the power goes off a lot. It was off the other day, Wednesday night for six hours and Thursday for another five or six hours.
"We've had our new plant now about a year or more and it still goes off just as much as it used to do before," she said.

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