The Bahamas may soon receive an unusual boost to its tourism product, as one company is in talks with two resorts to install artificial underwater worlds designed to offer a unique aquatic experience.
“We realized that there was a new market here that could be looked at as instant tourism. Before, artificial reefs were not appealing enough to market to resorts. That’s why we decided to create one that allowed tourism to happen instantly. Reef Worlds creates underwater worlds catering to mass tourism and takes pressure off natural reef systems,” according to Head of Development at Reef World, Dave Taylor.
While Taylor applauded The Bahamas for managing its reefs over the years, he told Guardian Business that due to a major explosion of hotel development over the last two decades, it is now becoming increasingly difficult to do so.
“We are proposing that resorts and developments start building reef worlds within their own footprints to attract tourism there, as opposed to what we are seeing in places like Latin America where there has been large reef damage due to large developments,” he explained.
He revealed that the Los Angeles-based company is presently in talks with two Bahamian resorts.
While he declined to name the resorts, Taylor confirmed that the company is in the design phase with both properties.
“They have asked us to come to the properties, and we ensure that we are not damaging anything that is already in place. This process takes approximately five months to complete,” he added.
“At the end of the day, it will put a higher premium value on those reefs for those divers who would like to go and interact with those reefs. If The Bahamas can maintain those reefs as pristine reefs, it will have a leg up on the competition because there are places in the Caribbean that are not as forward thinking,” Taylor noted.
He continued: “Implementing this would have a two-fold benefit, protecting the country’s natural resources and encouraging more tourism.”
Taylor said the entire process from the design to the placement stages would take approximately one year to be complete.
He admitted that implementing these underwater worlds can be costly, but will be beneficial in the end.
“It can cost anywhere from the low hundred thousands. That includes the design and placement process,” he added.
“We are looking specifically for renewed reef environments, sand beds, broken coral beds, anywhere that there isn’t a profusion of life already and there really is no interest to interact in that area.
“It’s the evolution of artificial reefs. First and foremost, we look at from the tourism side. We are hoping to help mass tourism in a sustainable way. We seek to create objects underwater that also help the present marine life.”
Scieska Adderley,
Guardian Business Reporter
