27th June
Tourism Industry Faces Challenge
By Deandre Williamson
Director General of Tourism Vernice Walkine acknowledged this week a public concern about falling tourism figures while addressing a Kiwanis Club meeting at the former Wyndham Nassau Resort and Casino now a part of the Cable Beach resorts.
She was giving an overview of the health of the tourism industry in The Bahamas.
Ms. Walkine said for the first quarter of 2007, the decline in the total visitor arrivals by 0.9 percent includes a 5 percent drop in the air component.
"Air arrivals, which were showing a 4.4 percent increase in 2005, are in reverse," Ms. Walkine said.
She added that air arrivals, on average, are responsible for up to 90 percent of the total visitor expenditure.
"Visitor spending in 2006 was $2.056 billion compared to $2.069 billion in 2005, a slight shortfall of $13 million," she said.
Visitor arrivals reached an all-time high of five million in 2004 and in 2005 dropped to 4.8 million, according to the figures.
Last year visitor arrivals further declined to $4.7 million.
Due to the closure of the Royal Oasis Resort in Grand Bahama, there are 1,300 rooms out of service on the island, Ms. Walkine said.
"That represents a drop of some $270 million in new money injected into Grand Bahama each year in tourist expenditure."
Also, Baha Mar’s ongoing improvement to its properties on Cable Beach will result in the loss of rooms at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort, now flagged as Sheraton, Ms. Walkine said.
Baha Mar’s project will also result in the closure of the Nassau Beach Hotel for a period.
Ms. Walkine pointed out that, "By the end of this year, the overall reduction in available hotel rooms for The Bahamas is expected to exceed 10 percent."
The declines in visitor arrival figures over the past two years were mainly attributed to a softening in the cruise market, she said, adding that, "further softening can be expected."
Ms. Walkine noted that three ships, Voyager, Navigator and Explorer, which are apart of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines have been deployed to Europe for the summer.
"Your Ministry of Tourism in partnership with industry stakeholders has been successful in attracting new low fare carriers to The Bahamas," she said.
Ms. Walkine noted that Jet Blue and Spirit airlines both began services to The Bahamas between November 2004 and January 2005 and since then has significantly expanded its services.
Ms. Walkine added that low cost carriers, extensions of US domestic services to international destinations, that favoured Nassau and Paradise Island in particular in the past two years have gravitated to alternative destinations like Bermuda, Provo in Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, Aruba and others.
"They are now enjoying the benefit of fare comparable to that of The Bahamas, thus taking away the price advantage we had in recent years," Ms. Walkine said.
She questioned if the Bahamian market would ever fully recover since the 9/11 terrorist attack on the US.
The hassle of airport security procedures and the recently implemented Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative or Passport Initiative makes a full recovery seem doubtful, Ms. Walkine said.
"WHTI is a new US law that requires all travelers including Americans to carry a valid passport or other appropriate secure document when traveling to the United States from within the western hemisphere."
American citizens who applied but have not yet received passports, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that those US citizens would be permitted to temporarily enter and depart the US by air upon presentation of a government issued photo identification and proof of a passport application, Ms. Walkine said.
She told the gathering that the Bahamian Immigration Department said it would accept a
valid government issued photo identification along with proof of a US passport application for entry into The Bahamas.
Tourism is the economic life blood of The Bahamas and the delays in the in US passport application process gives the country a brief reprieve as it enters into the busy summer travel season, Ms. Walkine said.
"I can give more examples of the challenge we face, but I hope by now I would have shocked you to the reality of how rough things are and will get for us if we do not halt the slide in our tourism." |
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