The General Manager of the Pelican Bay Resort on the island of Grand Bahama is voicing his concerns on the tourism product on that island.
Magnus Alnebeck said, “if you go back in Grand Bahama and you look at the last eighteen years post Dean and Francis the only two years where we have seen sort of a downward spiral as a destination coming up was the two years when Sunwing was operating Memories.”
Alnebeck asserts that more than a new airport is needed for the islands tourism product. “We don’t really have the product in Grand Bahama that is driving the airlift. It was very different from when Sunwing was operating their own hotel, being Memories, because then we had a driver and we got a lot of momentum out of that. And don’t forget we also had a spring and summer airlift with Vacation Express which is part of Sunwing too it helped out a lot. And its that sort of player that we need back in destination. We need a brand that is driving the destination,” he said.
The hotelier compared Grand Bahama’s needs to what is available on the island of Exuma. Alnebeck said, “the very interesting about Exuma is there was a Four Seasons Hotel there, which is arguably one of leading brands in the world, and it failed and it was closed for about two years. And in come Sandals, takes it over runs a Sandals with 90% occupancy, gets Delta, Canada, West Jet and American now you see everything else happening down there. It having great business which is due to what happened there.”
Alnebeck says Grand Bahama needs a brand and owners who are able to help put the destination back on the map.
