Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar said yesterday that the news of Baha Mar’s decision to make 20 percent of its staff redundant is “devastating”.
“Any reduction in employed persons in The Bahamas is devastating news,” he said.
“But fortunately, it’s not totally unexpected. As you can imagine, this COVID-19 coronavirus has been devastating to many economies, but especially to countries that are tourism-dependent like us.
“People are traveling less, staying in hotels less. The whole tourism sector worldwide has contracted and so businesses, whether they be airlines, hotels, restaurants, are being forced to reduce the number of persons that they employ just to stave off the possibility of going out of business completely. So, I think that this is not something unexpected. It’s just devastating nonetheless.”
As The Bahamas enters the final phase of the reopening of its economy, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the near-complete shutdown of the country in March, will be long-lasting.
The Nassau Guardian understands Baha Mar is preparing to make about 20 percent of its staff of 6,000 redundant.
While around 1,200 are being cut from the staff list, the company reportedly intends to keep most of the remainder of its workers furloughed amid an extended closure due to the unprecedented economic fallout caused by COVID-19.
Around 300 employees remain at the property to provide security and other services.
Baha Mar President Graeme Davis previously announced that the Cable Beach resort plans to open on October 1.
The reopening — originally intended to be July 1 — was delayed to “set the stage for a more successful reopening”.
At the time, Davis also foreshadowed staff reductions “to align staffing levels with projected business volume upon reopening”.
The redundancies will also impact staff at Melia.
Baha Mar committed to providing an ex gratia payment of 30 percent of base salary — in addition to what staff collects from the National Insurance Board (NIB).
For those who remain furloughed, the company will continue to cover eligible benefits, insurance premiums necessary to maintain health insurance, life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance coverage.
The Bahamas’ borders will reopen to tourists come July 1. Atlantis announced that it will begin a phased reopening, starting with the reopening of the Royal Towers and the re-engagement of some employees, starting July 7.
D’Aguilar said that while he believes the tourism industry in The Bahamas will rebound, it will likely take some time. He said nobody really knows where the pandemic will take us.
“I am of the view that the tourism sector will rebound,” he said.
“However, the generally accepted view is that we’re looking at 18 to 24 months for us to return to pre-COVID levels. But honestly, nobody knows where this pandemic is going to take us. And so there is a certain amount of uncertainty that exists and is causing a lot of consternation for people. But honestly, it’s extremely vexing and I just want the Bahamian people to know that the Ministry of Tourism is doing its endeavor best to restart this economy.”
The post ‘Devastating’ appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/06/26/devastating/
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