Business View Caribbean | April 2021

23 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN APRIL 2021 ABACO BEACH RESORT & BOAT HARBOUR MAR INA the resort attracts people, many of whom are boaters from the U.S. east coast and Canada, because of its proximity to Florida (only 165 miles), its calm waters, and great fishing. He reports, “The Abacos are a playground! It’s about having fun on the water, in the water, around the water, near the water. The island has amazing beaches, all the cays. The ferry is a 15-minute walk away from the property and you can go to Hope Town, you can go to Man-O-War Cay; there is a ton of history and cute little islands that give quintessentially classic Bahamian experiences. Marsh Harbour is the heartbeat of the island.” In 2019, after the resort was devastated by Hurricane Dorian, owners Emmanuel Alexiou and Andrew Sweeting started rebuilding the resort right away. According to Sallah, “They didn’t skip a beat.” The owners had the entire 200-slip marina and resort rebuilt in a year, just in time to host one of the many popular fishing tournaments in April. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March 2020, sending the world into a flurry of border closures and event cancellations. Sallah described the two potentially economically disastrous events as “a double whammy.” In spite of the coronavirus, the resort never closed its doors to guests and again pivoted to create their own COVID-19 protocols that were approved by the Ministry of Tourism at the very beginning of the pandemic. And they have adhered to them without issue for the past year. Sallah admits, “Although it has been challenging to keep staff upbeat, we have done everything we can to bring back as many employees as possible and look after their needs and those of our guests. It has been difficult, but we keep focused on the guests that we have in-house, trying to make sure we’re delivering a high level of service and following all the COVID-19 protocols to keep ourselves safe and to keep our