The luxury resort has 183 rooms, an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, a fitness centre and a host of other amenities.
General manager Ramesh Sadhwani, predicted that initially, the economic boost would come from employment.
He said the company is receiving applications for employment almost on a daily basis and 60 vacancies for a variety of positions still exit.
He explained that the resort would be filling those vacancies between now and February.
The applicants, he added, hailed from several islands and many residents from Exuma, who were initially hesitant in applying, are now filling out forms. Apart from Exuma, the bulk of the applicants are from New Providence and Freeport. He said the marina, when it opens in the spring, would also invite additional businesses and employment opportunities.
Mr. Sadhwani said the resort presently has more than 200 employees from Exuma; about half of its total of 487 and about 5 per cent of the entire island chain’s population of approximately 4000.
The resort has also boosted business for the island’s taxi drivers.
“The taxi drivers have formed an association and we’ve already kept them busy since we opened on Nov. 24 because we have been doing a lot of site inspections with our corporate clients,” he said.
He added that once the resort is full, as expected for the holidays, drivers would see even more business. He also said there would be a lot of other opportunities for people involved in bone fishing, deep sea fishing services, diving operations and tours.
He said he believed that eventually, people would become entrepreneurs and open restaurants featuring Bahamian cuisine or ones offering American and international cuisine. And because guests typically want to explore the island, the tour business would increase tremendously, he predicted.
“For those who want to be entrepreneurs and have an idea but are not sure if it’s going to work, they are more than welcome to give us a call and we would advise them,” he said.
As for training, the resort, which embarked on an extensive training exercise during the summer, has not scaled it back. Mr. Sadhwhani said the initial training programme that the company conducted spanned six weeks; four of those weeks were spent in the classroom and the other two weeks, spent on the job.
“That was just to get the resort up and running, but beyond that our training programmes are ongoing. Every department has continuous training and a lot of it involved reinforcing and re-emphasizing what they have learned,” he said.
He added that there is a training room on site, equipped with computer modules and all of the audiovisual tools needed. He said when the training expands to include larger groups, the company uses its function rooms.
Mr. Sadhwhani also commented on the staff housing, saying it was adequate. He said he believed that eventually some people would be looking at homes on the island prompting further real estate development.
“I think what will happen is that additional housing will crop up over the island and, in fact, I have already seen it,” he said.
And when there is large-scale development in any town people move there to find employment. With this anticipated population increase, the general manager was asked if he was also concerned about an increase in criminal activity. He said that he did not feel the development of the island would lead to a sharp rise in crime. Exuma, he said, is a quiet, peaceful community and has remained that way for generations. He added that the island has a good police presence and that the local council has been, and still is, actively involved in how the town functions.
He said in any kind of development, which brings many changes, if the town committees properly plan for the changes one would expect they would be prepared for most eventualities.
Mr. Jeremy MacVean, president of The Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA) said after talking to some hotel owners in Georgetown, he discovered that they were convinced there would be a large movement of labour from other islands to Exuma as a result of Four Seasons.
When asked if he felt that the five-star resort would bring business to the other hotels on the island he said, “Yes, I think ultimately, having a property of this scale in Exuma is going to get the name out there in the same way that in Nassau and Paradise Island the Atlantis name has benefited other properties.”
He said it is because of its five-star status that the resort could not compromise on service and amenities. He said the Four Seasons operates a property in Nevis, which gained an excellent reputation because of how it is managed. He indicated that he saw no reason why The Bahamas resort could not attain or improve on that kind of reputation.
Mr. MacVean added that he was hopeful the Four Seasons would play an active role in the association.
The BHA, through advocacy and training, seeks to promote tourism in The Bahamas through the cooperation of local hotel owners and operators.
By Mindell Small, The Nassau Guardian
