Business Community Looks To Natl. Budget For GB Revival

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GRAND BAHAMA, BAHAMAS – Grand Bahama residents are also looking forward to hear from the nation’s leader as he presents the 2025/2026 budget communication on Wednesday in the House of Assembly charting the government’s fiscal priorities and plans for the year ahead.

The most recent development on that northern island is a signed heads of agreement for the Grand Lucayan resort, which offers long-term hope, but with the project still in early phases, many are asking what’s next for the island in the short term.

President of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, Dillion Knowles says with cruise lines making major investments on the island, tourism is showing signs of life, but he believes more can be done to maximize that potential.

“We need to be building, building the revamp of the airport, not because we need an airport today, but because we will need an airport when these projects come online and we have passengers trying to get to Grand Bahama,” Knowles says.

He adds that more airlift is needed.

“We need to have economical air lift, so we need to deal with the fee structure, that…hinders the airlift availability to Grand Bahama and to work on that…[along] with working on building a new airport,” Knowles says.

The Chair of the Public Relations Committee, Brandon Hall, says the next step must include direct support for the business community.

“Having an increased budget allocation to support and educate and provide resources for our SMBS is essential to be able to build out all of the infrastructure and the capacity to meet the needs of all of these opportunities coming from home,” Hall says