The Bahamas' "risky" move to significantly increase its room supply ahead of visitor demand is getting nods of approval by global tourism officials, Guardian Business can confirm, with the growth seen as necessary to progress.
According to Carlos Vogeler of the World Tourism Organization, the country has done "its homework" on the best way to ensure tourism in the country remains strong.
He points specifically to the pending addition of thousands of new hotel rooms throughout the country.  "It implies certain risks but it has to be done that way," he said yesterday, at the first Regional Seminar on Tourism Development in the Caribbean held at the Sheraton in Nassau.
"Because if you reduce [the] offer, you will never get the demand, so you really need to bring [the] offer and then work out the demand.  Although it brings risks with it and there are difficult periods, I think that is the right way to do it."
Presently, there are plans for Baha Mar to add a total of 2,300 new rooms, which will increase The Bahamas' room inventory by 14 percent.  That is only 1 percent in terms of the existing room supply in the Caribbean overall, hotel officials have noted.
This compares to the 1,200 rooms Kerzner International opened in 1998, which increased the room inventory a similar amount, approximately 10 percent, as well as the 1,100 rooms it opened in 2007 at the Cove and Reef, which increased supply by another 8 percent.
Sandals recently embarked on a 63-room expansion at its Emerald Bay property in Exuma, among other  developments.
Speaking to industry stakeholders yesterday during the seminar, Vogeler said a rebound in the industry globally was definitely underway.  However, he noted that the growth would not be equal and that nations in the Asia-Pacific show signs of receiving most of that improvement.
For other regions, it meant making good use of new technologies, innovating traditional products, introducing more quality standards and working on a sustainable green economy.  After all, he said tourists were more knowledgeable and demanding, and that only destinations willing to rise to the challenge would get their fair share of the market.
Vogeler said The Bahamas was on its way to getting that done.
"From the international perspective, The Bahamas has a very strong brand and I think that's very important," he added.  "I think it's well positioned and I think out of the Caribbean destinations, The Bahamas is one of the best positioned.
"It has a good tourism tradition [and is] relatively well known as a country, maybe not so much many of the islands and their diversity, but the brand of the country.  The presence of The Bahamas in international affairs is good, so I think The Bahamas is one of those countries in the region that is doing its homework and it's bound to get higher market share."
Vogeler said the way forward for countries in the region should include a one-Caribbean approach that includes multi-destination visits.  Right now, however, he said the region was not getting as much of the market share as it could.
Baha Mar currently operates 700 rooms at the Sheraton, and 550 at the Wyndham, where two towers will be demolished.
When the new Baha Mar resort is complete in December 2014, it will include four new hotels, a convention facility, 100,000-square-foot casino and a signature Jack Nicklaus golf course.

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