By VERNON CLEMENT JONES, Guardian Business Editor, vernon@nasguard.com

Officials at hotels sharing Cabbage Beach — the site of Monday's fatal stabbing — are dismissing suggestions the incident will have a negative impact on present or future bottom lines.

"No impact," Atlantis VP of communications Ed Fields told Guardian Business Wednesday, referencing operations and occupancy rates.

It was the same sort of comment offered by Antonio Roa, GM for the adjacent RIU hotel. His property sits closest to where Fox Hill teen Khodee Davis was stabbed to death, the end result of a brawl between two groups of young men. The drama, or rather, the tragedy, was played out in the afternoon as tourists from both hotels sat lying on the famed beach. Many were oblivious to what was going on only meters away.

Still, news of the stabbing has now reached the Internet and travel stakeholders in key markets across North America and beyond.

It also comes as Tourism officials ramp up their marketing efforts and as the U.S. suffers through its continuing economic downturn.

Local officials are largely focused on selling Canadian and European vacationers on the Bahamian brand, increasingly billed as an upscale and exclusive version of the typical sun-and-fun vacation spots dotting the Caribbean.

That sales pitch has historically been an easy one to make, given the growing glut of high-end properties like Atlantis and RIU. Still, a surge in domestic violence, now extended to P.I., may compromise those efforts and raise questions about tourist safety for visitors, travel agents and tour operators.

"This is the first incident we've had like this on the beach," said Roa, "They have enough police there on the beach.

"We haven't had any guest complaints, as far as I know."

But safety is something that is increasingly worrying tourism officials, concerns brought to the fore last January with the shooting of another young Bahamian on Bay Street.

"The Ministry of Tourism can invest millions of dollars in the promotion of our islands, our beautiful beaches and all of the other equally astounding amenities, but all of this would be for naught, if the potential visitor does not believe that he would be safe in our country," said Director General Vernice Walkine.

Her comments came days after that drive-by shooting death. Monday's incident brings that violence closer to the most celebrated resort in the Caribbean.

Still, the spokesman for the Bahamas Hotel Association told Guardian Business earlier this week that Atlantis will continue to enjoy that success.

"Atlantis has redefined the resort experience," Frank Comito said. "Kerzner recognizes this and the property continues to stand out from the competition and should continue to do so."