Tourism Concern Slams CNBC for Awarding Hilton Award
Tourism Concern has slammed CNBC International Property Awards for awarding what they call a “socially and environmentally destructive tourism development†two prestigious prizes.
Says Tourism Concern: “Bimini Bay Resort, Bahamas, is threatening the livelihoods of local communities and has had a devastating impact on the island’s fragile marine ecosystem. The resort restricts people’s access to their land and marine resources. Coastal land has been carved up, the seafloor dredged and lagoons filled with silt to make way for luxury condominiums, a casino and ‘mega-yacht’ marina. The siltation of important breeding grounds has caused fish and conch numbers, which are harvested by local fishermen, to plummet.â€
Tricia Barnett said: “Regrettably, winning these awards will provide an unwarranted feather in the cap of a tourism development that has caused irreversible damage to the lives of local people and the environment, and one which they will no doubt be used to market Bimini Bay Resort in a positive light to touristsâ€.
Tourism Concern has learned that CNBC International Property Awards elected Bimini Bay for the prizes for Best Development and Best Marina Development despite the failure of Miami-based developers, Capo Group, to provide the required planning information when they submitted their entry. Capo Group was only pressed to supply the information when Tourism Concern and other environmental organisations raised their concerns last week.
However, the judging panel, chaired by Eric Pickles MP, UK Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has decided to stick with their decision.
The development will be managed by Conrad Hotels, part of the Hilton Group, once complete.
Local discontent, say Tourism Concern, also centres on Capo Group’s failure to provide local people with jobs on the development as promised, instead drafting in cheap labour from Mexico. The construction of second homes – separated from the rest of the island by a high wall – has triggered a sharp increase in the cost of living for local Biminites.
The resort is set to accommodate 10,000 people, swelling the small island’s population by 700% and placing unprecedented pressure on natural resources and infrastructure. Water supplies are being diverted for the development, causing water to local communities to be periodically turned off.
“It is astonishing that CNBC International Property Awards have not used this opportunity to set a good example. That the aesthetics of property developments are overriding their social and environmental costs is a truly regressive step. Such awards could have a positive role in encouraging and promoting environmentally sustainable forms of tourism that provide long-term benefit to local people, and CNBC International need to consider amending their criteriaâ€, said Barnett.
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