Royal Caribbean International's acceptance of a public-private partnership with the Bahamian government in regards to its Royal Beach Club development on Paradise Island, means it will forego significant profits when operations begin, RCI officials explained yesterday.

Those officials contended that the development is less about taking home huge profits and more about creating experiences for the growing number of passengers the cruise line plans to bring to Nassau over the next several years.

RCI President Michael Bayley, who was a guest on radio talk show "Morning Blend" on Guardian Radio 96.9 FM, along with the cruise line's Vice President of Government Relations for the Americas Russell Benford and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider, said the point of the Royal Beach Club product is to create demand for this destination.

"In the grand scheme of the totality of our business, this is a relatively small component," said Bayley.

"You know, I think this really is about product and experience and creating yet another great reason to come to The Bahamas.

"So, in a lot of our innovation our focus is not profit, our focus is on experiences, quality and creating demand, and with that comes revenue. And then over time that revenue translates into the profits.

"But it's one stream of revenue that comes into the Royal Caribbean group. It's a relatively small amount in the grand scheme of things. It's the quality of that product that enhances the brand significantly and it enhances the brand of Nassau as well."

While RCI was fully committed to funding the creation of the Royal Beach Club on its own, through the deal developed under the former Free National Movement-led government, the new Progressive Liberal Party government changed the deal to ensure Bahamians would be able to invest in the project and that the government would get an injection of cash into its coffers for use of the Crown land granted to Royal Caribbean.

Schneider said while the change in plans means profit projections were undercut, the company is not disappointed in the new deal.

"We've been with The Bahamas for 50 years. We're going to be in The Bahamas for 50, 60, 100 years plus," said Schneider.

"And, so, a deepened relationship with The Bahamas is exactly what we want. So, I don't know that it changed our model. Yes, it diminished maybe our profit margin a bit, but that didn't make us waver."

The new deal also means RCI got far less Crown land than was offered under the FNM deal, which Bayley said has lessened the capacity of the Royal Beach Club.

The company, though, is committed to the project despite some opposition to it by local groups and Atlantis.

Bayley said since 2016, RCI has spent $70 million acquiring private property on Paradise Island for the development of the beach club, which he said will be necessary as the cruise line increases the number of cruise passengers it brings annually by up to 2.5 million.

"Royal Caribbean brings to The Bahamas, overall, nearly three million tourists. That's a huge number of the tourists that come to The Bahamas," he said.

"By 2027, when we look at our future plans for deployment of our ships in the area, we will increase the number of cruise tourists that we bring to Nassau from around one point something million today to 2.5 million tourists by 2027.

"If you're going to increase the number of tourists that you bring to a destination, you've got to be very thoughtful about how you're planning to accommodate those tourists and deliver an experience to them.

"So, at the end of the day, the beach club itself, the capacity of the beach club will be probably somewhere around an average daily capacity of about 2,750 people. By 2027, we'll be bringing 7000 cruise tourists to Nassau on a daily basis. That's a significant increase in the number of tourists coming to Nassau."

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