The Bahamas has been nominated in nine different categories in the 22nd World Travel Awards in the following categories: “Caribbean’s Leading Beach Destination,” “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination,” “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Port,” “Caribbean’s Leading Destination,” “Caribbean’s Leading Dive Destination,” “Caribbean’s Leading Honeymoon Destination,” “Caribbean’s Leading Tourist Board,” and “Caribbean’s Most Romantic Destination.”

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John Skelton of KRyS Global, which has offices in The Bahamas, recently featured as one of the ‘People to Watch – 2015’ in leading industry newsletter, Turnarounds and Workouts.

Skelton, who is a senior manager at the forensic accounting and business advisory services company, was the only offshore professional advisor included.

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Ushering in a new era in tourism, the multi- billion-dollar Baha Mar luxury resort is rising out of the sand and scrubland of New Providence’s northern shore to command the Cable Beach skyline. Initially scheduled to open at the end of last year, but now poised to open this year, the resort is the brainchild of company president Sarkis Izmirlian and it stands as testimony to the development team’s vision for the future of tourism in The Bahamas.

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Nassau Airport Development Co (NAD), which operates Lynden Pindling International Airport, has announced the appointment of Deborah Coleby to the position of vice president of operations, effective April 1, 2015. She is the fourth Bahamian named to an executive management position.

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The California-based Hankey Group of Companies has announced plans for a $4.4 million renovation of the historic Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina.

The renovation programme is already underway and entails a new pool and pool furniture, updating for the 75-slip marina, a rebuild for the resort’s 60-foot glass-bottom dive boat and several other capital improvements to the property, including landscaping, painting, and new windows and sliding glass doors.

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An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Wendell Samuel (pictured) visited The Bahamas from March 9–20 to conduct discussions for the 2015 Article IV consultations.

Following the consultations, Samuel issued the following statement:

Economic activity strengthened slowly in 2014. Real GDP growth is estimated at 1.3 percent, higher than the 0.7 percent achieved in 2013, but well below pre-global crisis levels. Supported, in part, by rising US economic activity, air travel arrivals grew by almost 5 percent in 2014. Unemployment however remains high, and stood at 15.7 percent in November 2014. Inflation rose to 2.2 percent in January 2015 (1.2 percent in December 2014), as the imposition of the value added tax (VAT) offset the effects of declining oil prices.

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The Bahamas is taking steps in the right direction to raise its profile as an attractive funds centre. To succeed as an international funds centre requires not just a proactive regulator but a willingness to respond to the changing needs of the market and develop new products accordingly.

In that regard, The Bahamas ticks many boxes. It is the first independent country in the region with IOSCO “A” Status, which it received on December 27, 2012. It continues to build out the SMART Fund model template to provide a range of solutions for investment managers. This flexible product range, whose numbers have doubled in the last five years, benefits from sensible supervision and oversight that avoids the heavy-handed approach to regulation taken in other jurisdictions.

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Chinese Embassy officials and members of the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) paid courtesy calls on Minister of Financial Services Hope Strachan March 23.

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CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank executives called on Prime Minister Perry Christie, March 24, at the Office of the Prime Minister.