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Small Exuma properties expecting little fallout   By VERNON CLEMENT JONES ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ vernon@nasguard.com: The smattering of boutique hotels surrounding the Emerald Bay resort are anticipating little fallout from the pending closure of that upscale neighbor, asserting their more modest room rates and steady repeat business should stave off occupancy slide. "We've looked at possible areas of loss stemming from the closure," Terria Brown, resort director for the Beach Inn of Exuma, told Guardian Business Thursday. "Our clientele are different and really the only loss we anticipate is that of say the pilots who bring in Emerald Bay guests." It's an analysis similar to that being offered by other hoteliers in and around Georgetown, and only minutes away from the massive resort slated for closure on May 26. It was on Wednesday, receiver for the Four Seasons resort Russell Downs announced the hotel — and what else of the resort remains open — would be shuttered by month's end. That move will follow earlier closure of both the marina and the casino, neither of which was enough to stop the financial hemorrhaging exacerbated by the recession and the resulting hit to the Four Seasons' occupancy levels. The property's 'temporary' closure will result in the redundancy of at least 400 of the property's current 500, said Downs, suggesting those who remain on the job will be focused on keeping up landscaping and utility services — all with an eye to maintaining the resort's appeal for a prospective buyer. No one is suggesting a new owner will be obliged to hire those laid-off workers back, however. While not a direct blow for Brown and others, the closure represents a major hit to an island community once heralded as this country's next big center of commerce. That dream appears to have now gone off the rails although there's some hope a new buyer will emerge, said Downs, confirming he is now in talks with Michigan-based Amway. At least three other tentative offers have failed since the largely unfinished property was thrust into receivership by secured creditor Mitsui of Japan. The current debt load is estimated at well above $120m. Still, even before the introduction of the resort, Exuma attracted a steady flow of American, Canadian and European guests attracted by its waters and authentic bucolic charm. That hasn't changed, said one resort manager at a property down the road from Brown's. "We may fall back to what we were before the Four Seasons came, but we'll continue to attract our guests because we simply have a different target market," Libby Smith told Guardian Business Thursday. But the same rough economy Downs points to in explaining the revenue challenges at the Four Seasons has also impacted the bottom lines of smaller, less expensive properties. Exuma, in fact, suffered a 37 percent decline in the number of tourists first touching down for vacation last January relative to the year-ago period. That trend was carried over from 2008, with airlift to the destination expected to get cut back when the Four Season closes its doors, even if only temporarily. Friday, May 15, 2009