This Small Caribbean Island Is Seeing A Boom Of Hotel Investing

While it has a permanent population of just under 402,000 people, the island nation of The Bahamas sees many millions of visitors pass through its shores in a given year. 

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of international arrivals rose from 7 million to just under 10 million.

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These include both cruise ship passengers, who will usually spend a port stop wandering through the capital of Nassau, yachters on a wider tour of the Caribbean (The Bahamas are made up of over 700 islands in total) and high-earning travelers who will usually nestle themselves in a particularly remote area away from prying eyes. 

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Spanning 37 miles in length and seven miles in width, Great Exuma is nowhere near as visited or as well-known as Nassau, Grand Bahama and Bimini, but has always attracted a luxury-seeking crowd.

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These luxury hotels are targeting a different kind of Bahamas traveler

Sandals Beaches International, which for years operated a large Exuma resort, closed it down last August for a renovation and expansion under its Beaches Resorts brand. 

As the Sandals brand is more commonly associated with couples travel, the intent is to make it marketable to those seeking a luxurious family trip.

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"Exuma was made for families and with more than 6,000 feet of shoreline, the new Beaches Exuma will be a gateway to discovering the incomparable beauty of this part of The Bahamas," Sandals Resorts International Adam Stewart said in a statement announcing the expansion.

The company also added that this is one step in a wider plan to "significantly expand its footprint across the Caribbean" that includes recently-opened Sandals resorts in Curaçao and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Another hotel chain that has recently announced a massive project on Exuma is Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. In August, the Dallas-based luxury resort chain began a $200 million project to construct the 33-suite spa and wellness resort Rosewood Exuma on a small private island known as East Sampson Cay.

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'Dramatic views of the island's pink and white sands and turquoise waters'

The resort, which will be designed to open onto the pink and white sand beach of the island and include everything from an outdoors sports center to a 20,000-square-foot spa, is currently slated to open in 2028. 

There will also be a beach club to which visitors from the other islands that make up Exuma or even other parts of The Bahamas can sail for the day.

To finance the massive development, Rosewood is working with Miami-based investment firm Yntegra that has also financed projects like the Turtle Bungalow floating hotel in the Exuma area. Rosewood, meanwhile, currently has luxury beach resorts in Nassau, Bermuda, St. Barths and the British Virgin Islands.

"Situated on a 124-acre private island, Rosewood Exuma marks the brand's latest expansion in the Caribbean," Rosewood says of the project. "Set amidst a pristine archipelago of 365 islands in the Bahamas, the private retreat will comprise of just 33 suites, each offering dramatic views of the island's pink and white sands and turquoise waters, with several sitting directly on the beach."

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