Revamped British Colonial to be ‘incredible property’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE revamped British Colonial resort will “be an incredible property” that no longer operates under a recognised flag or brand, it was disclosed yesterday.

LATIA DUNCOMBE

second half as this contains the traditionally slower parts of the tourism season, whereas the figures to June included the peak winter season.

Joy Jibrilu, the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board's chief executive, told the same meeting that when it came to airlift "based on currently loaded schedules we will just exceed our 2019 seat capacity in October this year, which will be up 3 percent over 2019.

"Currently loaded seat capacity for December 2023 is 16 percent higher than December 2019, and December 2019 was the highest seat capacity December month in the last 20 years," she added.

"Overall airlift capacity in the second quarter was up this year by 15 percent this year compared to last year."

Vernice Walkine, Nassau Airport Development Company's (NAD) president and chief executive, said passenger traffic at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) had recovered to 94 percent of pre-COVID levels by end-June 2023 and was tracking some 18 percent ahead of last year's figures.

Dan McDermott, the downtown Nassau hotel’s newly-named general manager, told a Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) directors meeting that it will operate as an “independent” property with “great synergies” to the adjacent Pointe complex once its $50m refit has been completed by year-end.

“Ownership is working very hard to get things up and running, hopefully by the end of the year,” he said, referring to China Construction America (CCA). “It’s going to be a very different hotel in a lot of ways from what it was. It’s literally been torn apart right now in a lot of areas, and in other areas it’s coming together quite quickly.

“It’s going to be an incredible property, no longer a Hilton. It’s going to be an independent property. It will be a really great complement to The Pointe once completed, One Particular Harbour and Margaritaville. All three properties will have great synergy.”

Asked when the resort, which has long been regarded as an ‘anchor’ property for downtown Nassau and Bay Street will open, Mr McDermott replied: “We’re looking at the end of the year. I think early December would really be the target we have right now. Maybe we don’t get absolutely everything opened at once, but that’s the target right now to get everything moving forward, if not all at once, in a progressive plan.”

Robert Sands, the BHTA’s president, said the near-300 rooms that a re-opened British Colonial would return to New Providence’s hotel industry will play a vital role in ensuring supply can meet still-high visitor demand.

“The additional rooms that certainly the British Colonial will bring on board will certainly help fill the void we have in supply on the island of New Providence,” he added.

No mention was made of the recent Immigrationrelated controversy that ensnared the British Colonial, its CCA owner and the project’s Chinese construction workforce. The

British Colonial was closed “indefinitely” on February 15, 2022, with some 130 staff made redundant. The date also coincided with when the management/operating agreement with Hilton came to an end.

The Hilton was likely to have been hit hardest than many hotels by the COVID19 pandemic because it catered primarily to business travellers - the market segment that suffered most.

The 291-room property was also focused heavily on the groups, meetings, conventions and conferences market that was among the last to rebound from the pandemic’s clutches. This was not just foreign groups, but the local corporate market that now relies on Zoom calls as opposed to face-to-face meetings.