MIAMI, Florida - A top executive at Baha Mar has denied any plans to add a timeshare component to the first phase of the multi billion-dollar project set to open next December.
In an interview with Guardian Business, the company's Senior Vice President of External Affairs Robert 'Sandy' Sands said phase one will not include timeshare and no position with the Hyatt arose.
"It was always an option for future phases of Baha Mar. Timeshare was never a part of phase one for Baha Mar," he revealed to Guardian Business.
His comments came as the 15th annual Shared Ownership Investment Conference came to a close yesterday at the Eden Roc hotel in Miami Beach.
Executives at the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) had indicated to Guardian Business there were plans for Baha Mar to have a timeshare component to it.
Calling Baha Mar one of the most unique experiments he has seen in the Caribbean, Keith Stephenson, ARDA's director of state government affairs, believes having a timeshare component would have boded well for the overall product.
"The Baha Mar project is a great example as they have renovated infrastructure and developed a product that is second to none," he told Guardian Business.
Stephenson is among the industry executives who have called on the government to modernize the country's timeshare legislation in order for the destination to remain competitive.
"It must be done in a way that's going to really recruit a new type of development that is fundamental to the long-term growth and health of the industry," he said.
Currently, buyers in The Bahamas only have one option when it comes to purchasing timeshares and that is the "right to use", which is essentially a contract. It acts as a license that gives them the right to occupy their timeshare interest for a certain period of time.
He believes that not having that included in the laws has hindered The Bahamas in a sense.
"There is a protection for that on both fronts because the timeshare laws in The Bahamas really do give consumers very strong protections and the deed-based product is a major pillar of that," Stephenson said.
"One of the major priorities for the multinational developers would be for the Bahamian government to not only provide for right to use timeshare but deeded timeshare."
Earlier this week, Bert Blicher, president of the Blue Water Resort at Cable Beach, also called the government to update laws relating to timeshare properties if it hopes to attract more investments of this sort, noting that industry stakeholders are aiming to provide recommendations to the government as to what changes are needed.

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