January 2017 | Business View Caribbean

66 67 Swain’s Cay Lodge which guests love, and a new deck with seat- ing is currently being erected over our tarpon pond for guests to fish from, read a book, or just lounge,” Bastian adds. High season at Swain’s Cay Lodge is from ear- ly October to late June, with minimal occupancy levels in July and August. Bastian believes that its 50 percent occupancy rate during the high season can be improved to meet her three-to- five-year goal of 70 percent. “Our price point is very attractive given that our main competitors in the area are considered expensive,” she says. “We are finding that anglers and others who can afford those more expensive properties, but who feel that we have a comparable product, are moving towards us.” Preferred vendor n J.S. Johnson & Company Ltd. www.jsjohnson.com J.S. Johnson & Company, Limited are licensed Insurance Brokers and Agents with a Head Office in Nassau, Bahamas. The company is the oldest and largest general insurance agency in The Bahamas, having entered the field in 1919. The company has over 160 staff members, most of whom have many years of experience and hold professional qualifications from insurance institutes in the United King- dom, Canada, and the U.S.A. Its products include: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, Marine, Aviation, and Life & Health covers. In order to improve her num- bers, Bastian says she is beef- ing up the Lodge’s marketing activities. It attends fly-fish- ing shows that are held from January to March, each year, in the U.S.; it is a member of the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board (“That gets us the kind of marketing that we can afford”); and it is focusing more on add- ed-value offerings such as free round trip flights from Nassau to Mangrove Cay and cash dis- counts for private pilots, boat- ers, and divers, visiting for four or more nights. Cheryl Bastian’s dream of a showpiece resort on the Island of Andros has come true after many years of struggle and sacrifice. And the result is a place where anglers and others can enjoy the beauty of a vaca- tion in paradise with no crowds and no traffic–just the warm, gentle breezes blowing off the sparking blue waters of the Ca- ribbean. “Not only will you have a great vacation,” she says,“but the rooms are very nice and the food is really, really good. And it’s affordable.” So, what are you waiting for?