Kerzner International Chairman Sol Kerzner yesterday expressed disappointment that it is taking so long for the government to improve Nassau International Airport, which he once labeled one of the worse airports in the world.
“I’m not pleased with the progress there,” he told The Bahama Journal during a special brunch at Cafe’ Martinique which marked the official end of his three-month long 70th birthday celebration.
“I won’t be pleased with the progress there until I see real progress. I think when we talk about [Atlantis, Bahamas] Phase III we talk about one of the greatest and most sought after destination resorts in the world today.”
However, Mr. Kerzner said while he is disappointed he is encouraged that the government appears serious about improving the airport.
He said NIA needs to undergo “a major rebuild”.
“I think we’re moving forward. I think that right now the airport is under pressure. In less that 18 months we will be looking to attract another 3,000 to 4,000 people a day. One has to be somewhat concerned. But I also want to say I am pretty encouraged by the meetings I have had with the prime minister-and we have the assurance that it is moving forward and hopefully in a timely way.”
On Friday night, his son, Butch, who is the CEO of Kerzner International, told The Bahama Journal that work on Atlantis Phase III is progressing impressively and on schedule.
“The construction is in full swing on everything: the convention centre, the hotel, the water park, all of the attractions are coming out of the ground and people are working around the clock so we’re still on track to get the project open by February/March of 2007,” he said.
His comments came minutes after a Patti LaBelle tribute concert in the Atlantis Theatre to celebrate the official opening of Marina Village along with Sol Kerzner’s birthday.
Butch Kerzner said the weekend was expected to be one to remember.
“We’ve been building Phase III and the Marina Village, which is the first part of it, opened recently and we wanted to do something that was special and do a big show to give people a taste of what’s going to happen when we really open Phase III,” he told The Bahama Journal.
Those attending the concert agreed that the event was something special as a line-up of top artists created the kind of buzz Mr. Kerzner said Atlantis tries to keep alive.
Among those performing were Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child; rapper, Nelly; Michael McDonald; Yolanda Adams; Boyz To Men; Ashanti; Gerald Levert; Mario and others.
But the highlight of the night was – as expected – the performance of Patti LaBelle herself.
On Saturday night, other top artists like Shaka Khan and Lionel Ritchie, created another explosive performance during an all night jam session.
As if that weren’t enough, yesterday morning, invited guests were treated to a gospel brunch at Café Martinique with Bebe Winans leading The Bahamas Gospel Choir.
Speaking with The Bahama Journal during the final event yesterday, Patti LaBelle described the weekend as “phenomenal and beautiful.”
“I was feeling it,” she said. “I had a lot of fun and I’ll be back. You can come here and live. I could, one day maybe.”
Butch Kerzner said Kerzner International plans to keep the excitement alive as it continues work on Phase III.
He said, “When we get to our maximum, we’re going to have about 2,000 people working on site and obviously we’re just getting going now and will continue to build and build.”
Mr. Kerzner told The Journal that Marina Village – which is an attraction comprising retail space and restaurants – has significantly exceeded the company’s expectations.
“We thought we would [have to] wait until all the rooms come on stream in Phase III to really get the Marina Village going,” he said.
“What’s encouraging to us is despite not having opened up any new rooms yet, [even after] opening up the Marina Village, all our existing restaurants are as busy as they always were and now we’ve got all the new business at the Marina Village. I think what it does show is that when you create something that’s interesting and exciting it generates business-The tough news is that we realize that we have to build even more restaurants.”
Overall, Mr. Kerzner said business at Atlantis in 2005 has been “spectacular”.
“All this year pretty much through August we were running almost up to 90 percent and above and September/October is our traditional slower part of the year, but business trends and levels have been good,” he said.
“Demand is good and it’s stuff like what we’re doing this weekend that creates the buzz, creates fun, creates energy.”
Asked whether he thought it was taking too long for the government to conclude a management contract for Nassau International Airport, Butch Kerzner also said the company is “quite encouraged” by what the government has been doing in this regard.
“We would never have embarked on this major project unless we had a really high level of confidence that things would work out,” he said.
“I read the press and government seems to be confident that things will be worked out. We’re very comfortable about it and I’m very relaxed that things are really on track.”
He said Kerzner International is also comforted by the fact that The Bahamas has tremendous growth potential.
“Having now been in the country for over 10 years, we [see that] the potential and the promise of this country is so enormous,” Mr. Kerzner said.
“The people are wonderful-We would have invested in excess of $2 billion in The Bahamas [at the end of Phase III]. We wouldn’t do that unless we had an incredibly high level of confidence in what is going on in the country.”
The Phase III project will include a 600-room luxury all-suite hotel; a 400-unit condo hotel; a significant expansion to Atlantis’s water-based attractions, development of 100,000 square feet of additional group and meeting facilities, and additional timeshare phases.
“It’s our most ambitious project ever,” Mr. Kerzner declared.
“In my view it would take Atlantis from being an amenity to something I believe really rivals the Disneys of the world – not to diminish what Disney does – I think we’re graduating into the real major leagues and I think it’s going to have a huge impact on tourism for us at Atlantis and for The Bahamas as a whole.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
