NASSAU, Bahamas – Despite the country’s economic fall-out from COVID-19, Bahamas Labour Minister Dion Foulkes says he feels very optimistic “about the employment situation,” especially as it relates to the country’s tourism industry, The Tribune, one of The Bahamas’ leading newspapers, reported on Wednesday, January 27.
Pointing to several hotel properties’ upcoming reopening dates, the minister told reporters on Tuesday: “I want to say that I am very optimistic about the employment situation in The Bahamas, especially the touristic sector. We got notifications from Sandals that their hotel in Exuma will be opening at the end of February and the hotels here in Nassau would be opening the end of March. That is almost good news for almost a thousand employees at Sandals. We also got notifications that Baha Mar will be opening their other two hotels – the Rosewood and the SLS at the beginning of March. So, Baha Mar will be completely open and that is extremely good news.”
This comes as some properties are seeing a drop in bookings following US President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new quarantine requirement for travellers entering the United States.
On Monday, Atlantis announced plans to furlough more of its employees due to increasing cancellations, making it the second time in a month the major resort has sent staff back home since reopening in December 2020.
Speaking to The Tribune on Monday, president of the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU), Darrin Woods said Atlantis told union representatives it “got a lot of cancellations” after President Biden’s quarantine announcement last week. See complete Tribune story at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/jan/27/tourism-jobs-im-optimistic-foulkes-surprises-upbea/
