Atlantis to compete with Baha Mar

The casino announced a US$130 million investment as part of a push to compete with the recently inaugurated Baha Mar.

Bahamas.- Atlantis resort casino on Paradise Island is set to invest US$130 million in the facility during the next two years in order to compete with Baha Mar. The owner company would spend US$80 million in 2017 and approximately other US$50 million in 2018 in order to stay “updated.”

Howard Karawan, president and managing director of Atlantis, told Tribune Business that the owner company Brookfield Asset Management believes that the two facilities can coexist in the Bahamas, specially if Baha Mar opens new facilities that widen the market, instead of stealing initiatives from each other. “Next year I foresee us spending another US$50 million or so to keep the product fresh and updated, but we don’t need to spend US$1 billion right now. I would rather take that money and invest in our associates and local businesses to create the experience.”

Karawan commented that the phase four of the project is set to create more authentic Bahamian experiences for guests with a combination of cultural and culinary attractions designed to establish a connection between the destination and the visitors. “You can’t just keep building new buildings and new pools. The market sometimes can’t handle that. Tourism has changed. People don’t just want pretty new hotel rooms; they want real, indigenous, flavourful and soulful experiences,” he told the news outlet.

Moreover, the official confirmed that the facility has enjoyed a very strong summer session, with July occupancies as good as 90 percent full. “I would say that summer has been very good for us. July has been well north of 90 per cent occupancy, so business is very strong.”