In November the Isle of Capri operation in The Bahamas will be taken over by the Treasure Bay Group. This week there was a meeting between casino employees, Government Ministers, Gaming Board officials and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, owner of the Our Lucaya resort on Grand Bahama. The meeting was organised to answer concerns of employees and part of a Government move to ensure the continuing operation of Grand Bahama’s sole casino.

Of great concern to workers and the Government alike is the low volume of resort guests that visit the casino. The Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Vincent Vander-pool-Wallace, is anxious to come to an arrangement with Hutchison Whampoa whereby the casino can have access to rooms at a favourable rate to increase the marketing power of the casino operator. There is also a push to reduce costs of flights to Grand Bahama, something that has reduced the island’s competiveness. The cost of the Miami-Grand Bahama route presently fails to compete with the Miami to Cancun, Montego Bay and Las Vegas routes.

According to The Freeport News, a private/public sector deal is being negotiated. Vander-pool-Wallace said, “We have come to the point where the Government, the private sector — specifically the (Grand Bahama) Airport Company, Freeport Flight Services, Hutchison (Whampoa) — have come and put a program in place where the cost to fly to Grand Bahama has been reduced sufficiently for Grand Bahama to become much more competitive, not only against Nassau but against all of the others."

WestJet will commence twice-weekly service to Freeport from Toronto, Canada; Delta Airlines will begin service four times weekly to Freeport, beginning in December; Sprit Airlines has re-confirmed its commitment to Grand Bahama from Ft. Lauderdale; and American Eagle has increased its airlift from two flights to four flights per day.

It is hoped that the extra flights to and from Grand Bahama combined with new television advertising by the Government and new casino room rates will ensure that the Our Lucaya casino remains a viable operation providing necessary jobs and support for the local economy. The casino at present employs over 200 Grand Bahamians. (E-09.24.09)


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