Although pleased with the proposed new Atlantis Phase III development, President of the Bahamas Hotel Catering & Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU), Pat Bain has expressed concern about the future of resorts in the western area of the island.
Mr. Bain said with the majority of hotels in the western district in need of improvements, there cannot be any boasting of the standard of the tourism product as the highest in the region if concentration is only paid to a certain area of the island.
“It will only enhance the tourism product on Paradise Island; however the main concern is how it will affect the hotel properties out west,” he told The Guardian. “The additional twelve hundred rooms to be constructed at Atlantis when added to the present market in the western district will cost the Government and proprietors to find ways to enhance these properties.”
The proposed $600 million Phase III development at Sun International brings Kerzner International’s total investment in The Bahamas to $1.7 billion.
The Phase III project of Atlantis includes a new 1,200 room hotel, three new luxury villas at the Ocean Club; 20,000 square feet of additional restaurants and retail facilities around the Atlantis marina; extension of water-theme attractions, including a dolphin-encounter attraction; 120 two-bedroom time-share units on the harbour; a world-class, ecologically sensitive link golf course and a fire and ambulance station.
Also included in the plans are 50,000 square feet of additional convention facilities. Once completed, Atlantis will have between 3,500 and 3,600 rooms employing a minimum of 8,000 Bahamians on the property.
Another concern with the new project Mr. Bain said, is the fact that a multi-employer organisation is being created.
“This level of employment by one particular entity has to be guarded very carefully,” he said. “Especially if at any point in time, the investor finds disfavour either with the country or the Government.”
Speaking further on the state of the hotel properties out west, Mr. Bain said they are in need of massive facelifts in order to restore the buzzing tourism activity they once had.
Should their investors sell or close down those properties if operations prove to be shrinking, what happens to the thousands of jobs held by Bahamians, he asked.
The amount of jobs promised by Kerzner International and the Government is large, Mr. Bain said, but in order for the needs of the industry in general to be assessed, his union is meeting with leaders of the Hotel Employers Association to discuss the matter.
“Hopefully we will be able to establish a training programme between the Hotel Employers Association and the union,” he said. “This will help to either bring new employees to the training programme or re-train the existing employees who may wish to change their careers.”
He said attention will also be paid to the Hotel Training College to help with training programmes that will improve the level of service in the industry. All of this will be done he said, to set a good example for new employees coming into the sector.
“It will create jobs, it will help to improve the economy, it will give a new look to our tourism sector,” he said. “Sun will be known as the tourism flagship of The Bahamas. Indeed the investor confidence will be boosted by the recognition of the expenditure by Kerzner International.”
He also discussed problems hotel workers have been having with expatriate workers who have reportedly been insensitive to Bahamian culture and making working relations difficult because of their unfair treatment of Bahamians.
Mr. Bain suggested that when expatriates are hired by hotels, there should be some kind of introduction to hospitality programmes to familiarise them with Bahamian culture.
By Lisa Albury, The Nassau Guardian
