NAD moves to next stage of airport hotel development plan
1 Oct 2025
There will likely be two small hotels
The Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) has moved to the next stage of the development of its airport hotel at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), by issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) to the qualified companies that replied to NAD’s expression of interest for the hotel, NAD’s President and CEO Vernice Walkine said yesterday.
Walkine, who made the remarks during the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s board of directors and membership meeting, said the work has now begun in earnest to get the airport’s hotel developed.
“What is envisioned for this property is potentially two small hotels, no more than 120 keys each,” said Walkine.
“We’ve done feasibility studies, and we got very robust response from the expression of interest.
“Anecdotally, not a day goes by that we don’t get asked the question by travelers through this airport, ‘why don’t you have a hotel at this airport?’.
This move is part of a landside development master plan
“In any event, we’ve determined that it is a feasible proposition. And, so, it is part of a larger sort of landside development master plan that we have developed.”
NAD issued its expression of interest in May of this year. Walkine said the RFPs were sent out September 15.
She said NAD expects to have the RFPs back by the end of the year or early in 2026, so that it can begin the process of selecting the developer for the hotel.
The airport sought expressions of interest for a hotel in 2018, but ultimately scrapped the idea because it was deemed that the original development site – the site of the old domestic terminal – was too close to airside activity.
Walkine said in May that given the record-breaking passenger traffic experienced at the airport last year, and the strong growth in visitors post-pandemic, now is the time to finally develop the hotel.
NAD said the development of the airport hotel is part of a larger landside development master plan and strategy (LDMS) to develop a “gateway district” at LPIA, in the hopes of stimulating economic development, enhancing the overall airport experience, and diversifying the airport’s revenue streams.