NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said that the Davis administration in its second year in office is looking to match the $6 billion worth of investments approved during its first year.
Cooper, the minister responsible for Tourism, Aviation and Investments, noted the government is seeking to leverage its relationship with Saudi Arabia to attract new high-level investment to this nation.
Cooper was speaking on the sidelines of the 22nd World Travel and Tourism Summit in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.
He underscored the Davis Administration over the course of its first year in office has approved $6 billion worth of investments. He also noted that 2023 could shape up to be the best year this nation has seen in tourism.
“We want to match that in our second year in office,” Cooper said.
“This would mean additional sources of investment. We believe Saudi Arabia can be a great source of new investment through their sovereign wealth fund, through the Saudi fund for development and through private investors as well,” said Cooper.
Cooper noted that the government is building a relationship with the Middle East and Saudi Arabia which has recently opened its country up to tourism and foreign investment.
Cooper said that The Bahamas’ tourism industry continues to demonstrate a quick and strong rebound from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and that its brand remains strong globally.
“We have to continue to invest in our product,” he said.
“We need more rooms. I continue to ask the investment community to build more hotels and build more capacity. We can fill those rooms but we need more investment and improvement on what we offer. Over the last decade or 15 years, we have lost our ranking in the Caribbean in terms of market share.
“We continue to do well but the Caribbean is growing their room inventory and capacity faster than we are and there as part of the overall pie are achieving better overall results in terms of market share. We continue to do extremely well, we continent grow and we will beat 2019’s performance. For us 2023 will be perhaps the best year we have seen in tourism,” said Cooper.
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