The former Bahamas Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace recently said mega-casino-resorts Baha Mar and Atlantis must appeal to visitors as “two separate kinds of experiences.” Speaking to the press, Vanderpool-Wallace said Baha Mar and Atlantis can attract customers who may want to spend time at both properties if they can distinguish their products while marketing Nassau/Paradise Island as a singular destination.
Vanderpool-Wallace stated, “You have to begin to tell the customers that you’re not making a choice between two similar entities. So I think it will begin to be very important to both sides to begin to figure out ways they’re going to differentiate one from the other. You have a large number of impulse decision makers who take vacations, and if somebody can see there is a reason for them to come to Atlantis this month and then next month go to Baha Mar, to the degree we begin to do that, you’ve just grown our business significantly.”
Baha Mar is not yet fully open. Rosewood, its final hotel property, will debut in first quarter 2018. Atlantis is renovating several towers and plans to offer more authentic Bahamian elements within its dining and entertainment areas. Vanderpool-Wallace said Baha Mar has “substantial potential” as a resort, adding “there is nothing wrong with the physical product. It’s just a matter of now beginning to persuade the world that they ought to be able to choose Atlantis and Baha Mar.”
Regarding future casino-resort investment in the Bahamas, Vanderpool-Wallace commented, “No investor is going to invest and create something of this kind elsewhere unless they begin to see this one becoming successful, so I guess that’s one of the prerequisites in terms of anyone even beginning to contemplate that.” He pointed out Bahamians only have focused on Nassau/Paradise Island, which makes up just 2 percent of property available for development in the Bahamas.
