business@tribunemedia.net
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
$ 5.75
$ 5.45
$ 5.77
$ 6.58
$ 6.64
fee reforms US investor unveils $650m Boating ‘could not have Eleuthera ‘game changer’ been better timed’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A US developer is pledging to “create a life-altering, forever game changing experience” for visitors and Governor’s Harbour residents alike via a resort, marina and boutique casino destination featuring a combined $650m in investment and real estate sales. Jeff Jacobs, chairman and chief executive of Jacobs Investments, in a December 2025 presentation setting out “our Eleuthera vacation vision” for the J Resort Eleuthera, disclosed more details on his plans by revealing that it will cover 600 acres in central Eleuthera “stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea”.
A RENDERING of J Resort’s pedestrian-friendly community pathway between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean’.
J Resort’s 600 acres ‘stretch from Atlantic to Caribbean’ Golf course ‘put on hold’ amid ‘master developer’ strategy ‘Still some wood to chop’ before approvals; EIA underway
Personal income tax is ‘not politically feasible’
‘It’s been a long haul’ but Grand Lucayan’s sale poised to close
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Government will miss this year’s $75.5m Budget surplus target, an international rating agency is warning, while affirming The Bahamas’ ‘BB-’ longterm creditworthiness and an outlook signalling that no adverse events such as a downgrade will occur within the next 12 months, Fitch Ratings, in its April 2, 2026, full-year report on The Bahamas’ sovereign credit rating, blamed the Middle East conflict’s oil price shock and “uncertainty” surrounding a possible tourism slowdown for its prediction that the Davis administration will produce a deficit of equal magnitude to its projected surplus - 0.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) - for the 2025-2026 Budget year that closes at end-June. The rating agency also appeared to confirm what many in the Bahamian business community have long suspected - that the Government is mulling whether to replace Business Licence fees by extending corporate income tax, which is presently only imposed on entities that are part of
THE long-touted Grand Lucayan deal could be sealed as early as this week, Tribune Business was told yesterday, with all contracts between the Government, Concord Wilshire and the latter’s key partners said to have finally been agreed and now only awaiting exchange and sign-off. Amid growing scepticism that the resort’s sale to Miami-headquartered Concord Wilshire would ever close, given that it is now almost 11 months since last May’s Heads of Agreement signing,
EXPANSION - See Page B3
well-placed sources familiar with the deal confirmed it is now poised for signing and execution following complex negotiations that Prime Minister Philip Davis KC has pushed to conclude ahead of the May 12 general election. One contact, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this newspaper that it had been vital to lock-in both Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) cruise arm and Disney Cruise Line as partners in the Grand Lucayan’s redevelopment given that Grand Bahama’s stopover leisure tourism market is virtually non-existent. The two
And, apart from the resort itself, the development will feature “five resort-related neighbourhoods” containing more than 350 total vacation residential properties. These residences, according to the presentation obtained by Tribune Business, are forecast to generate more than $450m in combined real estate sales - a sum equivalent to 69 percent of the total $650m financing package. Mr Jacobs, in a signed statement, said he has already invested some $40m in real estate purchases to assemble land required for his vision, and more acquisitions are set to follow. “Our current $40m in acquisitions, combined CONSULTATION - See Page B4 cruise lines will, in effect, provide the resort with its initial customer base and ensure its early financial survival until stopover tourism is rebuilt. “The hotel has to have income,” the source said. “Freeport is a zero tourism destination. That’s why it took a long time to get this done. It’s no good building the hotel without support. In three years they will have their own people coming. “Twenty restaurants are planned. It’s going to be really transformative, not just another entertainment destination. The Prime Minister has been pushing this really hard. It’s a big accomplishment for Freeport. Without the hotel, the city would be rudderless. It’s been a long haul, an 18-month slog but, finally, they are all agreed.”
RESORT - See Page B5
Rating agency sounds alert on ‘unclear PPP pressures’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s chairman yesterday accused the Government of “accounting in the dark” after an international credit rating agency voiced concern over the “unclear pressures and liabilities” imposed on Bahamian taxpayers by so-called public-private
partnership (PPP) projects. Dr Duane Sands told Tribune Business that the issues flagged by Fitch Ratings, in its April 2 country report on The Bahamas, are “not a surprise” as the rating agency warned about “liabilities and budgetary costs” stemming from infrastructure projects that the DR DUANE SANDS
LIABILITIES - See Page B3
BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net SENIOR tourism and resort executives say the boating fee reforms “could not have been better timed” as they stand to help The Bahamas regain its US proximity competitive advantage amid the fuel price spike sparked by the Middle East conflict. Kerry Fountain, the Bahama Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business that the April 1 introduction of the two new boating fee categories - the 30-day and six-month cruising permits - will allow The Bahamas to “speak directly to different types” of visitors, namely the “weekend warriors” and “winter snowbirds”, respectively. And Molly McIntosh, the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina's top executive, predicted the changes, which also cut the anchorage fees paid by boats in the two new permit categories, will have a “huge” effect on boosting business for her property during the fall 2026 and winter seasons. She had been “worried” the Government would wait until after the upcoming May 12 general election to make amendments vital to reversing what some marinas had blamed for an up to 50 percent drop in business
KERRY FOUNTAIN volumes for the 20252026 winter season, but added that the reforms will foster a “positive attitude” and encourage boaters to believe The Bahamas wants and values their business. Mr Fountain, meanwhile, acknowledging that the resort, marina and wider Bahamian boating economy had wanted the changes to be made much earlier, nevertheless praised and congratulated the Government for delivering on the Prime Minister’s mid-year Budget pledge to amend the Customs Management Regulations prior to the start of the 2026 summer boating season. “The amendments couldn’t have come at a better time,” the Promotion Board chief told this newspaper, suggesting the reduced fees will make The Bahamas more affordable just as fuel costs for visiting boaters surge as a result of
SAILING - See Page B6