With less than a month to go until the opening of the Memories Grand Bahama Beach and Casino Resort, the name of the new casino operator at the resort could be made public early next week, according to the minister of tourism.
Sources close to the matter told Guardian Business yesterday that great progress was made during a key meeting with potential operators held on Monday. While a final decision was expected yesterday, it could take an additional three to four days to finalize those negotiations.
The government has been pointing to plans to finalize the casino operator since as early as June of this year. It has not revealed who is in the running for the contract.
Obie Wilchcombe, minister of tourism, confirmed yesterday that the decision is imminent as the resort prepares for its mid-January open date. He said the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas is leading the negotiations; its Chairman Julian Russell and Senior Policy Advisor Sir Baltron Bethel are expected to brief him on the matter soon.
"A decision will be made this coming week. Everybody is still in the running but we just have to make a decision from who is in the running," he said.
Just last month, Wilchcombe said the government is carefully vetting additional operators that have expressed interest in operating the casino, in an attempt to ensure it finds the right fit.
"At the end of the day, we are looking for the best player. While there are still three companies that are being considered, the truth is there are some other people that have come in and you don't want to turn them away," he revealed.
"We are going to look for a casino operator that's going to be comparable with what we have here in the capital and in Bimini. You cannot think about rejuvenating Grand Bahama's economy without ensuring that the gaming group that would be allowed to run the casino in Freeport could bring us the kind of leverage and longevity that we require.
"We want to give Grand Bahama that long-term growth as opposed to the boom bust, because we have made mistakes with the first two casinos, the one that exists now and the one before."
Wilchcombe, who also has responsibility for gaming, stressed that the new casino partner has to be in place in time for the hotel's January 16 opening.
David Johnson, director general of tourism, has previously indicated that current operator Treasure Bay has agreed to "hold on until we can select a new operator".
Already, bookings for travel into Grand Bahama to stay at the Memories Grand Bahama Beach and Casino Resort are "incredible", according to Wilchcombe. Beginning on Thursday, Delta will begin its daily non-stop service from Atlanta, Georgia into Grand Bahama. This is in the addition to the introduction of service from Canadian cities like Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Toronto.
"Of course, we are seeing the bookings growing now for Grand Bahama from the Reef Village resort. The bookings are incredible. We feel good about the bookings," Wilchcombe said.

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