Latrae Rahming on Safety For American Tourists in The Bahamas

What About The Safety of Bahamians in The Bahamas, Mr. Latrae Rahming?

OPM DID NOT SEND CBS NEWS TEAM TO COVER MURDER SCENE

STATEMENT FROM COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR:

“The Office of the Prime Minister did not direct any news crew to cover a crime scene in The Bahamas. We have since contacted the team, who indicated they will not use that as part of their story.

The purpose of their (CBS News crew) trip is to show that The Bahamas is safe for Americans to visit and that incidents occurring in The Bahamas are outside of the tourist areas,” Communication’s Director, Latrae Rahming.

Source

Coalition of Independents (COI) Respond to The Communications Director at The Office of the Prime Minister, Latrae Rahming On Safe Areas for Tourists in The Bahamas

"Director Latrae Rahming, your statement is not only a slap in the face to every Bahamian but also a clear indication of where the government's priorities lie. The audacity to publicize areas safe for tourists while leaving your own citizens to navigate through violence and fear is beyond appalling.

It's a blatant display of negligence towards the very people you've sworn to protect and serve. Our nation should not resemble a resort, where safety is a luxury afforded only to those holding foreign passports.

The reality that our own streets have become battlegrounds for our sons and daughters, while the government seems more preoccupied with the nation's image abroad, is shameful. It's a gross failure to fulfill the most basic duties of governance and law enforcement.

Furthermore, let this serve as a stern reminder that the Bahamian people are exhausted by this blatant disregard for their safety and well-being.

Our children, the future of this nation, are growing up in an environment where their lives are undervalued. The government's apparent indifference to the escalating violence within our own borders, while ensuring tourists can sunbathe in peace, is unacceptable.

We demand more than just words and reassurances; we demand tangible actions and policies that prioritize the safety of every Bahamian. The time has come for the government to stop treating its citizens as second-class and start addressing the root causes of this violence.

The people of The Bahamas deserve to feel safe in their own country, not just survive. Our patience has worn thin, and our tolerance for excuses has reached its end. It's high time our leaders took their responsibilities seriously and made the safety and security of their own people their top priority.

I fully understand that tourism is our number one industry, and we've seen how fragile that is, especially when we were struck by COVID-19, and now it is being further threatened by crime. While the need to protect this industry is clear, it's crucial that we move past this outdated model.

The safety and needs of our people must not be overlooked in the process. The continuous focus on the welfare of tourists at the expense of our own citizens' safety is a dangerous imbalance that cannot be sustained.

It's time to explore and invest in sustainable development models that do not sacrifice the well-being of Bahamians. Our people's lives and safety should always be the priority, and any model that fails to recognize this is fundamentally flawed and unacceptable."

Charlotte Green

National Chairman

Coalition of Independents

Source 

...unless and until we fix whatever is wrong with our tourism industry (and fix it urgently) ...the economic and social dislocations currently being experienced in The Bahamas will continue unabated

What needs to happen in tourism

CFAL Economic View

The Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Islands of The Bahamas Arrivals Report’ released earlier this year contains some very useful and informative data on the tourism industry in The Bahamas, and a lot more information on the economic performances of those countries from which our visitors originate.

The report, compiled by the ministry’s research department, provides a summary of total visitor arrivals to The Bahamas for the year 2011, in what appears to be a record-breaking total of 5.234 million.  That figure is broken down further to show that only 1.29 million of those visitors (or about 25 percent) arrived by air.

There is something troubling about that figure when it is taken into account that about 25 years ago The Bahamas was boasting total air arrivals in the region of 1.5 million.  What is more troubling is the fact that we are in the midst of the worst recession ever experienced in a modern Bahamas and the agency which oversees our most important industry appears to be offering no concrete solutions.

Almost 75 percent of the report outlines the economic challenges facing the United States as a result of the crash of the housing market there, and the subsequent financial meltdown.  The rise in unemployment, particularly in the northeastern states, is highlighted perhaps to remind us that the reason for the poor performance of our local economy is tied to employment levels in the U.S.  It is also noted that Texas, contrary to popular belief, generates more tourists for The Bahamas than many of the northeastern states.

Similar information is provided on Canada and the western European nations whose citizens also visit The Bahamas, although not in such great numbers as the Americans.  Again, the intent is presumably to inform us that it is the global slowdown in economic activity that is adversely affecting our visitor arrivals (by air) and consequently contributing to the slow economic growth figures.

Those examples, or more appropriately arguments, would have been more persuasive had we not been made aware from other sources that air arrival tourists were up and growing impressively in our competitor destinations, such as Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Cancun, Mexico.  Some mention of the costly and perhaps unsustainable subsidies to the industry in the form of ‘companion airfare’ is given as a successful policy response to the crisis.

For more than half a century tourism has played a pivotal role in the economic development process of this country.  It has accounted for most of the foreign direct investment, more than 50 percent of direct and indirect employment, and has provided the necessary level of foreign exchange inflows to not only fund our insatiable import appetite but also to support the important one-to-one peg between the U.S. dollar and the Bahamian dollar.

Changes needed

In other words, unless and until we fix whatever is wrong with our tourism industry (and fix it urgently), the economic and social dislocations currently being experienced in the country will continue unabated.  Large numbers of skilled and semi-skilled Bahamians will join the unemployed labor force. Unable to meet their debt commitments, they run the risk of losing their homes and other assets acquired during better times.  Unable to provide the needed level of support for their immediate families, the inevitable household tension could rip families apart.

What is needed is a recognition of the importance of the tourist industry to The Bahamas in general and to the partial solution to the current economic crisis in particular.  In the short-term, attempts to stimulate other less important parts of the economy or programs to diversify production from our main service provider simply will not create the number or types of jobs sufficient to absorb the unemployed.

The tourism plant, in terms of existing and planned hotel rooms, needs some form of re-tooling to ensure it is functioning at its optimal potential.  We know for instance that the costs of labor and utilities are out of line with our competitors, placing the country at a pricing disadvantage.  Those areas need to be addressed, perhaps by permitting the hotel operators to produce (hopefully more efficiently) their utility needs rather than relying on the inefficient state-owned corporations.

Above all, we need more air-arrivals since that category of visitor spends more than 10 times what is spent by their cruise counterparts, making a larger contribution to employment and output in the country.  The Bahamas at this time in our history needs a fresh, focused and comprehensive plan to increase the number of air arrivals in order to produce the required number of jobs and to begin the process to effectively reverse the unemployment trend.

 

• CFAL is a sister company of The Nassau Guardian under the AF Holdings Ltd. umbrella.  CFAL provides investment management, research, brokerage and pension services.  For comments, please contact CFAL at: column@cfal.com

Aug 15, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Political activity is heating up in The Bahamas, where a general election is due soon... ...On the current standing, there could well be another one-term administration in the works with the Hubert Ingraham-led Free National Movement (FNM) seeming to be highly vulnerable... ...Although investment activity in tourism, its leading sector, is picking up, the negative impact of the global downturn is still being felt in The Islands

Government's Paying The Price For Recession

By Dennis Morrison, jamaica-gleaner Contributor:



One does not have to be a student of political economy to understand how the global financial turmoil of the last four years has shaken up the political landscape.

In the United Kingdom, the Gordon Brown-led Labour Party was the first in a string of casualties arising from the sharp economic downturn which is still reverberating across the globe. It seems not to matter whether ruling parties are of right or left orientation, as dissatisfied voters express their anger by discarding incumbents.

Across the globe, the political environment remains volatile under the impact of widespread joblessness, record mortgage foreclosures, and the massive destruction of wealth.

The prospect that there will be no early relief, and the seeming intractable nature of the European debt crisis, mean that the sour political mood will persist.

In America, the Obama administration and the Democrats have borne the brunt of voter dissatisfaction, even though they inherited the crisis and had acted rapidly to halt the precipitous slide in the economy.

In mid-term elections at the end of 2010, American voters turned on the congressional Democrats and booted them out, as economic malaise deepened, and the ranks of the unemployed swelled. With the slow pace of the recovery and gridlock in Congress, the 2012 elections could see another wild swing of the political pendulum.

In the presidential race, the weakness of the Republican candidates could prove decisive, although President Obama's re-election chances are seen to be heavily tied to the pace of improvement in the job market.

gov'ts toppled

Governments were toppled in Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. In France, the second-largest economy in Europe, presidential elections are due in April, and the latest opinion polls are showing President Nicolas Sarkozy trailing his main rival from the Socialist Party. While it is too soon to count him out, his ratings are being depressed by the slow progress in settling measures to stave off the debt crisis in the Eurozone.

Farther afield, the Opposition Democratic Party of Japan won a historic landslide victory in 2009, reflecting deep economic anxieties in that country which have still not eased. Japan's economy has been undergoing two decades of lethargic growth and is the cause of its continued political fragility.

Latin American countries were among the best-performing economies in the turbulent conditions since 2008, recovering fast from the recession and returning to strong growth. A region which is usually highly volatile, the political mood in Latin America has mirrored the economic stability experienced in recent times. Incumbents in Argentina and Brazil were returned to office, and in Brazil, in particular, the anti-poverty programmes of the Lula administration brought political stability.

Governments in the Caribbean have not been immune to the political backlash from the recession. The ruling People's Progressive Party in Guyana won its fifth consecutive term, helped no doubt by the fact that the Guyanese economy had fared better than most in the region. In St Lucia, the incumbent United Workers Party was thrown out after one term, weighed down by political wrangling and leadership issues, but more important, by difficult economic circumstances.

Role in jlp defeat

History was made in Jamaica with the Jamaica Labour Party administration being the first to have the dubious distinction of losing after one term in office since adult suffrage in 1944. Analysts have put arrogance and corruption at the top of the list of factors responsible for the party's defeat.

I would argue, however, that the fact that the Jamaican economy shrank by more than five per cent in the past four years and job losses climbed to more than 100,000 was a more powerful influence on the electoral outcome.

Political activity is heating up in The Bahamas, where elections are due later this year. On the current standing, there could well be another one-term administration in the works with the Hubert Ingraham-led Free National Movement seeming to be highly vulnerable. Although investment activity in tourism, its leading sector, is picking up, the negative impact of the global downturn is still being felt.

Barbados' election cycle runs to January 2013, and the incumbent government there will also be navigating strong economic headwinds.

Growth-inducing strategies and activities that generate employment are not only important to get regional economies moving again but will influence the political tide in the Caribbean. Politicians will have to show their skills at policymaking and management to survive the tide.


Dennis Morrison is an economist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

February 5, 2012

jamaica-gleaner

Caribbean Blog International

Policy makers are urged to produce a coherent national development strategy with opportunities for public input and debate... Urgently

A Clash of Economic Models for the Bahamas
by Larry Smith
bahamapundit



"As I watch these students and their families, all so proud of their accomplishments, I cannot help but feel sorry for them...How will they feel about themselves in this tourist industry, playing the role of servant so clearly constructed as being part of the nature of Bahamian culture." -- Dellareese Higgs, 2008 doctoral dissertation

“It is clearly the case that, as a result of tourism, the Bahamas is chronically dependent.” -- Felix Bethel, College of the Bahamas lecturer

“Tourism is a form of ‘leisure imperialism’ and represents ‘the hedonistic’ face of neocolonialism." - Malcolm Crick, British anthropologist

"While direct travel services generated $1.8 billion in export earnings, the economy spent $1.9 billion on the purchase of merchandise imports. it could be suggested that in the (Stafford Sands) model, the state of foreign reserves is in fact the economy’s ultimate monetary target." -- Gabriella Fraser, researcher at the Central Bank of the Bahamas, 2001

"Because of our addictive reliance on foreign investment our appreciation for Bahamian genius is negligible and in so doing we are oppressing Bahamians....Our economic model perpetuates an economic apartheid." -- Olivia Saunders, College of the Bahamas lecturer

"One can argue that Bahamian national pride is to a degree a product of brochure discourse, of touristic marketing; that much of what Bahamians love about their country is what travellers and the tourist industry claim is worth loving." -- Ian Strachan, College of the Bahamas lecturer

"The world seems to be divided between people who predict rain and people who build arks. We know which one is easier. Let them continue to predict rain in the face of these opportunities. We will work with those who are in the business of building arks." -- Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Minister of Tourism

The preceding series of quotes (except for the last one) is fairly representative of the intellectual discourse over tourism, economics and identity that rages from time to time in the academic and cultural world, both here and abroad.

Interestingly, this normally esoteric debate was thrown into sharp relief last week when Tourism Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace and College of the Bahamas lecturer Olivia Saunders delivered diametrically opposing views at the Bahamas Business Outlook conference on Cable Beach. The theme of the conference was economic diversification.

This discussion began with a description of our current economic model. What is often described as the "Stafford Sands model" for ease of reference, is really just an updated version of the oppressive 19th century colonial system, critics say. It is a typical dependency model, which was fashioned long before Sands was born. And it needs to be overthrown.

Olivia Saunders said the creation of the Development Board in 1914 formalised earlier promotional efforts by paying foreigners to bring tourists into the colony and to develop hotels. In the 1930s, promoters like Harold Christie started selling Bahamian land to wealthy foreigners for second homes and other investments. The influx of foreign capital was driven by the absence of taxes on earnings. And all this set the country largely on the course it travels today.

Although Sands was not the originator of this model, he did take advantage of the global economic recovery after the Second World War to dramatically expand tourism and financial services. Rapid economic growth in the 1950s and 60s was partly due to unprecedented promotional spending to position The Bahamas as a year-round tourist destination.

Saunders summed it up like this: "The Bahamian economic model is designed for the country to relinquish responsibility for its resources and the commanding heights of its economy. It is one where the role of the residents is to provide labour and to be consumers while the owners of the economy, foreign nationals and a small minority of locals, amass great wealth.

This was a model that ensured underdevelopment of our human resources, she said. "We maintain a tax and incentive regime that not only favours the foreign investor but oppresses Bahamians...An economy so designed does not have much need for a local intelligentsia...It is disastrous for us to continue using the present economic model of dependence and economic apartheid."

Saunders offered a vague three-point plan to address these issues. First, leverage the abilities of Bahamians who have the aptitude and expertise to own and operate anything that is vital to nation-building. Second, ensure that Bahamian capital and resources benefit Bahamians rather than foreigners. And third, accept that our current economic model is dysfunctional and incapable of producing the results we need.

"Human beings are more than workers and consumers, and policy makers should not measure how well the nation is doing by how many jobs arise from this or that project or how many cars are purchased," she said to standing ovations from some in the audience. "My advocacy is for a new economy so fashioned that it portrays and liberates Bahamian brilliance; an economy that is congruent with healthy and sustainable communities, and an economy that extends wealth to Bahamian citizens."

Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace offered a different approach. While acknowledging that tourism was facing "stiff headwinds" due to a longer than expected recession, "what is often forgotten is that the most diversified economies on earth are not only going through the same troubles we are, these highly diversified economies are in fact the source of our troubles. And several American states and European countries are now in deeper trouble than The Bahamas has ever seen in recent times."

According to the minister, "any initiatives to grow our economy in the short and long term must be grounded in activities that arise from making existing and accepted strengths stronger, because we know that any effort that requires massive training and retraining of our population, while noble, is for the medium and longer term and is less certain. So yes, I believe in diversification, but not necessarily diversification in the way that consumes so much debate."

He went on to cite statistics that may surprise some readers. For example, if Nassau and Paradise Island were a separate country, it would rank fifth in the number of stopover visitors, second in the number of total visitors and first in the number of cruise passengers in the entire Caribbean. Yet these two connected islands are less than 2 per cent of the total Bahamian land mass.

"Today, this 2 per cent 'country' would be the third wealthiest independent nation in the hemisphere," he said. "If fully developing only 2 per cent of our islands yields these results, imagine what could happen if we began to utilize more of our natural assets. If we want to diversify, why not diversify like Toyota did in extending their brands of cars? Why not diversify within one’s areas of strength and comparative advantage?"

As we all know, the Bahamas is right next door to the United States, which constitutes 25 per cent of the global economy - a proportion that is likely to remain relatively stable for the foreseeable future despite the growth of emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China. Collectively, these nations account for less than 12 per cent of global GDP today.

Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that despite our proximity to the world's largest economy, "it is much less expensive and takes less time to travel from most places in the US to most competing destinations in the Caribbean than it does to travel to any of our Family Islands. Reducing the cost and time for travel to our islands will most assuredly lead to explosive growth and can turn our economy from the wind in our face to the wind at our backs."

This will also make domestic travel for Bahamians much more appealing compared to the current cost advantages of a trip to south Florida, he said. "The power of low-cost, high-quality air and sea transportation is no longer a debate in our industry. Our Companion Fly Free programme has been the most successful promotion in history, selling nearly 300,000 room nights, and the growth of our cruise business by more than 18 per cent last year is adequate testimony to the value of low-cost access to a Bahamas vacation."

While Nassau and Paradise Island teeter on overdevelopment, Vanderpool-Wallace noted that we have failed to provide adequate inter-island transportation, and argued that "Infrastructure development in an archipelago depends as much on connections between islands as it does on infrastructure on islands."

He advanced a "mission to the moon" vision in which Bahamians living on nearby islands like Eleuthera or Andros would commute to work in Nassau as we begin to develop the other 98 per cent of the Bahamas more completely. "Such commutes are done every day around the world. Why not The Bahamas? Our overall mission must be to go back to the islands through the expansion of inter-island transportation and communications services."

He envisioned a future where containers arriving at the new port on Arawak Cay can roll off vessels and roll onto trucks for transportation to other islands to deliver goods to the resident population, returning to Nassau with farm produce. And passengers would be able to take their personal vehicles with them to travel through the archipelago. This will accelerate the use of first and second homes in the islands and "make that globally desired idea of living and loving the island life immensely more accessible and attractive."

Efforts are already underway, he said, to establish an electronic booking system for all of the air and sea transportation within The Bahamas so that residents and visitors can book and pay for their transportation from anywhere on the planet to anywhere in The Bahamas. Currently, visitors have to go to airports and seaports to make those arrangements in most cases.

"Imagine all of the land, sea and air transportation throughout The Bahamas owned and operated by Bahamians. Imagine the size of aircraft and volume of seats coming into Lynden Pindling International Airport if substantial numbers of those passengers are also connecting to other islands of The Bahamas."

He said the government's online initiatives and a robust telecommunications sector were essential ingredients of this “Back to the Islands” vision. And all that is required for Bahamians to be successful in tourism are “bed & breakfast” facilities that can be viewed and booked online from anywhere in the world along with the necessary air and sea transportation.

"When those difficulties are overcome, we can enable hundreds to enter the tourism business immediately all over the country. And incentives could be offered to Bahamians now living overseas or on New Providence to move to the Family Islands. The largest incentive thus far is the government’s declaration that it will tackle the problem of generation and commonage land," he said. "That will be the greatest distribution of wealth in our history."

While broader diversification of the economy is a wonderful mantra, Vanderpool-Wallace said the exploitation of our existing tourism assets will be more beneficial over the short term. "Tourism cannot grow without other sectors contributing to that growth and growing themselves. It needs agricultural, legal, accounting, medical, engineering and software services. The more useful mantra is that one must compete in one's area of comparative and competitive advantage. We have not come close to making maximum use of tourism."

Quoting motivational trainer Steven Covey's comment that “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing", Vanderpool-Wallace said our main thing was "100,000 square miles of the most salubrious waters in the world. If we continue to guard and protect that resource, it does not diminish in size or value over the course of time, unlike the natural resources of many other nations. We have more islands and more beaches than the rest of the Caribbean combined.

"We are now at the beginning of the biggest educational, transportation and electronic infrastructure development in our history," he said. "This is the beginning of the wave to move us all forward, upward and onward together. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, now is the time to give focused attention to the development of our islands."

The contrast between Vanderpool-Wallace's common sense vision of empowerment and the bitter, near Marxist, approach of academics like Saunders could not be more marked. We would urge policy makers to extrapolate this vision, and incorporate other sectors, to urgently produce a coherent national development strategy with opportunities for public input and debate.

bahamapundit

Bahamas Blog International

This Nation’s Bevy of Challenges

The Bahama Journal Editorial



With this nostrum as opening gambit, we take note of the fact that, for what now seems a fairly long season, the Bahamas seemed to conclusively demonstrate that development in a small island developing country could be successfully driven by foreign direct investment.

And for sure, Bahamians could and did exult in their good fortune by assuring themselves that, these salutary changes had come about due to their own initiatives.

Indeed, there was every indication that, the Bahamas had somehow or the other managed to escape its long history of boom and bust at the economic level.

And so it arose that, they decided to praise the late Sir Stafford L. Sands for being the financial genius behind the so-called miracle of year-round tourism to the Bahamas.

We now know that this was an illusion.

As the same record would attest and confirm: while Sir Stafford was –in truth and in fact – a major player in the development of the tourism industry, other forces – most of them external to the Bahamas- played crucially important roles in this transformative process.

Highest on the list of external forces would be the on-set of the Cuban Revolution and Cuba’s isolation from trade with the United States of America.

It was this external factor that has driven the Bahamian economy over the course of the past fifty years or so.

With this development came that transformation of the Bahamas which allowed the bulk of its people a first opportunity to turn its collective back on a development model predicated on seasonal tourism, niche banking, fishing, farming and other allied occupations.

This development brought with it ancillary political changes – some of which promised Majority Rule and some economic empowerment for those who were heretofore socially excluded and economically marginalized.

While some successes have been scored; there is every indication that some of these now run the real risk of being lost as a consequence of the hard times that now prevail.

In addition, there is every indication that things are set to be difficult for at least the next decade or so.

This situation stands in direct contrast to those days when money was in abundance and when practically everybody who was anybody could make a fairly decent living.

Things are now trending downwards; and so, as things go and grow from bad to worse – Bahamians on either side of the political divide have taken to blaming each other for this nation’s bevy of distresses.

While this ‘game’ might provide entertainment galore for those who are tuned in; we daresay that, this does the nation itself no real good.

For our part, then, we would sincerely suggest that, having grown accustomed to one version of the so-called good life [that is to say, a life driven by easy money] very many Bahamians are today panicking; this coming packaged in with the prospect that hard times might be here to stay.

While we are optimistic as regards our prospects for the long-term; we are today pessimistic for the short-term; this due to the fact that, the Bahamian people are yet to determine what they want and would have as regards real leadership.

In the interim, things threaten to disintegrate into a state akin to chaos.

And of course, this can lead to its own sad denouement in even more social distress.

Here take note that on occasion, we have bemoaned the fact that, the Bahamian people are being routinely failed by their leaders.

Evidence for this failure can be seen in practically every major institution; whether reference is to those who would lead in the field of faith and belief; education; government; the home or at the work place.

In addition, there is no gainsaying the fact that, there are very many Bahamians who are today mired in distress; with some of them teetering on the edge of despair.

And yet there is more bad news; this time around the reference we make has to do with what seems a Bahamian penchant towards dependency and lack of confidence in their own innate ability.

This neatly explains how it arises in case after case that Bahamians are loath to respect their own when they are put in positions of authority and power – thus the pre-eminence they give to foreigners and to most things foreign.

For a season, this way of things surely worked its magic.

But since nothing lasts forever, these balmy days are now receding. As they become history, a new order beckons; this being one where Bahamians will be obliged to work harder, produce more so as to become more self-reliant.

In this regard, we envisage the coming of that day when, the Bahamian people will have a national economy that walks – so to speak- on two legs; with one being foreign and the other Bahamian.

December 29, 2010

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

All Hands on Deck

The Bahama Journal Editorial


Certain high-ranking International Monetary Fund officials are today convinced that, “Although the outlook [for the Bahamas] is fraught with uncertainties and risks, the mission is confident that the resolute adherence to fiscal consolidation and an enabling investment climate will foster a stable macroeconomic environment and support sustained economic growth.”

We concur.

But even as we express our overall agreement with the IMF’s analysis; we are constrained to note that, we should – as a matter of both principle and policy – do all we can as to further empower our people; and to see to it that, growth and development is powered from both the inside and outside.

Such an addition of an endogenous dimension of development to the current policy mix would go a long way to helping Bahamians help each other.

Such a double-barreled approach to national development would – of necessity- push leadership in the direction of seeing to it that our most precious resources- here namely our youth are put to the most productive use possible.

Here our churches, unions, businesses, other civil society agencies – and the government are called to pull together in the interest not only of their membership; but in the interest of all to put the Bahamas on a path to sustainability.

And so, whether the reference made is to tourism, banking or the industrial sector, each and every one of these clearly has a stake in a vibrant, healthy, development-oriented Bahamas.

But just as clearly, we must break with business as usual.

Were we to do so, we would wake to find that, while things are tough; and for sure, while moving forward, things might get even tougher; we are ever optimistic.

We are buoyant not only because we know that, this period of austerity is one where those who stick it out will reap their fair share of rewards; but also because it is precisely in times like these –that is to say, days of creative destruction – when you either sink or swim.

For our part, then, while these are days of tremendous struggle, we are convinced that, the worst is over; and that, in the fullness of time – better days will come.

But even as we note that these so-called better days are ahead; we know it for a fact that, we must –like others in the mix- do our level-best to help make some of these things happen.

And for sure, we are also absolutely convinced that, the time is nigh for all of this nation’s right-thinking Bahamian sons and daughters to cease from their time-tested habit of sweating the small stuff; that is to say, their socially pernicious habit of making too much of the already too-little that divides them.

Happily, while this habit does persist – and might yet continue – we are happy to report that, this country that is ours continues to get kudos for the conservative manner given by all who govern to the economic affairs of this land that is ours.

Some of these kudos routinely come from world agencies such as the International Monetary Fund. In this regard, we now note some of what the IMF has had to say about the management of things in this period when austerity is the word that apparently matters most.

The team met with senior government officials and representatives of the private sector. At the end of the visit, Mr. Gene Leon, head of the IMF mission to the Bahamas, issued the following statement: “The global crisis of 2008-09 had a profound impact on the Bahamian economy. Tourist arrivals declined by 10 percent and foreign direct investment fell by over 30 percent, leading to a sharp contraction in domestic activity and a large rise in unemployment.

“However, lower import prices helped narrow the external current account deficit to about 12.5 percent of GDP; this together with external borrowing and the one-off allocation of Special Drawing Rights helped raise gross international reserves to about 2.5 months of imports, boosting support for the exchange rate peg…”

There was even more. Here we are led to believe that, “… Gross international reserves are projected to increase despite the higher oil prices owing to strong private capital inflows, including from Foreign Direct Investment…”

While this is not to be ranked at the optimal level, we do have some modest reason to be happy that ventures like Baha Mar are on stream.

And as Gene Leon aptly notes, “…Going forward, the authorities have indicated a commitment to maintain prudent macroeconomic policies, including fiscal measures to reduce the rising debt-to-GDP ratio and a monetary policy geared to supporting price stability and the US dollar peg… They also plan to continue with reforms to improve tax administration, increase fiscal responsibility, and transparency.”

Evidently, then, even if things were to turn out as suggested by the IMF; there would still be work [at the endogenous level] that could and should be done by Bahamians.

December 23, 2010

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Chinese Factory in The Bahamas?

Chinese Manufacturing Company Commits to Building a Factory in The Bahamas

Chinese To Build Factory in The Bahamas

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

20/08/2004

The Chinese manufacturing company, Jndeli, has committed to building a factory in The Bahamas, Minister of Financial Services and Investments Allyson Maynard Gibson revealed Thursday.

Jndeli, which manufactures luxurious Swarovski silver and crystal products already sold in The Bahamas, intends to create jobs for a significant number of Bahamians, according to the Minister, who spoke to the Journal from Shanghai.

She said the economic benefits to be derived will be tremendous.

“If we just think about the almost five million tourists we are going to have this year, if each of them spends just $20 or more, that’s $100 million more pumped into our economy,” she said.

“So imagine that impact on the economy, in terms of jobs.  Obviously setting up a factory is going to mean jobs.”

Government officials expect that the presence of Jndeli in The Bahamas will fuel widespread entrepreneurship as well.

“You’re talking about serious, serious entrepreneurship,” Minister Gibson said.

She added, “When you’re talking about souvenir production, you’re not just talking about persons creating and copyrighting their products, buy you’re talking also about people having to work to assemble them, making them.”

Prime Minister Perry Christie, who is on a state visit to China, has long talked about the need for there to be stronger linkages between tourism and manufacturing.  Mr. Christie has said that it cannot be acceptable for most of the dollars earned on tourism to leave the country to pay for imports.

It’s precisely the reason why government officials in China are elated that they have been able to lock down such deals like the one with Jndeli.

Minister Gibson termed it an “incredible success.”

 

Company officials, who have visited The Bahamas in the past, are expected to return in October to locate a site for their factory.  There has been no indication of which island they are likely to target, the Minister said.

She said the Chinese have also committed to sending master carvers to The Bahamas to pass on their technical know-how and have also agreed to send persons to The Bahamas to help train Bahamians in packaging fruit, vegetables and seafood.

“So we are moving toward the goals that the prime minister has set for us which is to enhance our souvenir industry, to tap into the significant tourism market that we already have and also in finding ways to do what Jamaica does and that is to maintain as much of the dollar as possible and re-invest it into our economy,” Minister Gibson said.

“This souvenir thing is very exciting,” she pointed out, adding that executives of Jndeli are all set to go.  “We’re looking at really unleashing the creativity of our souvenir producers.”

The Bahamas Prime Minister, Perry Christie says He would Like to See a Five-star Development on Cable Beach to Complement the Five-star Paradise Island Development and the Planned Upgrades to the Nassau International Airport

Kerzner International Executives Fear “destructive” Competition in the Idea of Five-star Developments on Cable Beach

Christie Touts Cable Beach

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

22/06/2004

Prime Minister Perry Christie has admitted that he is not minded to encourage Cable Beach to target mid-market tourists, as is the wish of Kerzner International executives.

Kerzner officials have made it clear in recent weeks that while they are not against competition, Atlantis and Ocean Club, not Cable Beach, should target high-spending visitors.

“As prime minister, I have indicated to the Kerzner family and to its board of directors that my government values their investment to date,” Mr. Christie told the Journal recently.  “They know, the Kerzners, that we have a problem with Cable Beach.  They know that there has to be radical improvement to the product of Cable Beach.”

Kerzner CEO Butch Kerzner has said that improving Cable Beach would be good for the destination, but he has also said that any development for that area should not directly compete with Paradise Island.

Mr. Christie said, however, he and his government would find it difficult to turn down any investment for Cable Beach that would be five-star quality.

“We live in a country where the challenge for the government, if we are to listen to advice, is how do we go about when an investor buys a property and decides with his money that he wants to spend $5 million, how do we tell him to spend 2?  How do we do that?  That is the difficulty that we face,” he said.

Mr. Christie said he would like to see a five-star development on Cable Beach to complement the five-star Paradise Island development and the planned upgrades to the Nassau International Airport, which will also make it a five-star facility.

“That is what I saw, being able to facilitate this significant increase in tourism to New Providence,” the prime minister said.

He said he will deal more intimately with Kerzner’s concerns at it relates to “destructive” competition after he addresses other more pressing issues.

Mr. Christie said he is focused on selling the Radisson Cable Beach Resort and securing $10 million for the Treasury.

“Until such time, therefore, as I am informed that there is an agreement to buy the hotels on Cable Beach, I need not focus on anything other than the sale of the Radisson,” he said.

The prime minister also said that the owner of the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino Phil Ruffin has not agreed to sell his property, so the government is a good distance away from addressing the debate evolving over competition.

“If in the process we are able to cause there to be a wonderful development at Cable Beach, we would cross the bridge that has been put in my way, when we come to that, if we have to,” he told the Journal.

Mr. Kerzner said in a release last week that, “If done correctly, redevelopment will expand the size of the pie rather than us all fighting for the same slice of the pie.  It is the difference between constructive as opposed to destructive competition.  Where overbuilding has taken place in one market segment the result has been failure.”

Butch Kerzner, Kerzner International CEO on Possible “destructive” Competition between Paradise Island and Cable Beach

Butch Kerzner: ...any development on Cable Beach that went after the same market, as Atlantis would force Kerzner to "reassess" things

Kerzner Clears Air On Cable Beach Competition

 

Candia Dames

Nassau, The Bahamas

16/06/2004

 

 

 

Kerzner International CEO Butch Kerzner released a statement Tuesday defending his recent statements regarding possible “destructive” competition between Paradise Island and Cable Beach, which have fuelled much feed back.

And he made it clear that his project is going ahead no matter what, although he had said recently that any development on Cable Beach that went after the same market, as Atlantis would force Kerzner to “reassess things.

While accusing the media and others of trying to place Kerzner in conflict with the government’s position on Cable Beach, Mr. Kerzner reiterated that redevelopment must be done in what he has called a sensible manner.

"The point that I have been trying to make is that successful destinations such as Orlando, Las Vegas and the Dominican Republic have developed resorts to appeal to a wide range of audiences across lots of different price points,” said Mr. Kerzner, who wants the government to encourage Cable Beach to pursue the mid-market while Kerzner pursues the “very small” high-end market.

Mr. Kerzner said while a guest on the Love 97 programme “Jones and Company” which aired Sunday that the high-end market makes up less than three percent of U.S. households.

Referring to the destinations that cater to a wide audience, Mr. Kerzner said in his Tuesday release, “That is what has made them successful.  If done correctly, redevelopment will expand the size of the pie rather than us all fighting for the same slice of the pie.  It is the difference between constructive as opposed to destructive competition.  Where overbuilding has taken place in one market segment the result has been failure. 

“Just because this might sound self-serving does not make it untrue."

Mr Kerzner continued that, "The Bahamas' average room rate is already more than twice that of Las Vegas and Orlando - and we must be careful that we do not price the destination out of the market.  In any event, whatever happens on Cable Beach will happen.  We will not get distracted from our core mission of making Atlantis something that all of us working and living in The Bahamas can be proud of.  As far as we are concerned it is still full-steam ahead with the planning for Phase III.  This is a great country with great people and I am optimistic about our future."

He said Kerzner is not opposed to any major redevelopment on Cable Beach.

Talk of direct competition between Kerzner’s Atlantis resort and Cable Beach follow indications made by the prime minister that he intends to announce a $1 billion investment project for the popular New Providence strip.

Last month, Kerzner announced that it intends to carry out a $1 billion expansion of Atlantis.

Mr. Kerzner said Tuesday; “Major investment on Cable Beach is a good thing for The Bahamas, for tourism, and even for our company here on Paradise Island.  We are not afraid of competition.  Every single day of every week, of every year, we compete with the best in the world - from Orlando to Las Vegas to Hawaii.  We compete with multi-billion projects and we are successful."

He said, “Many folks have tried to make out that our position on Cable Beach is in conflict with Government's position.  The possibility of a disagreement sounds interesting to many people, particularly in the media - it sounds like news.  But, I need to make it clear, that I do not have enough information to know whether I agree or disagree with government on the proposed plans for Cable Beach.  But even if we did disagree, that would not be a major problem.

“I consider our partnership with government to be outstanding and, as in all relationships, points of difference sometimes arise.  We voice our opinions and then we go on with our business."

Mr. Kerzner’s recent remarks urging that Cable Beach be encouraged to target the mid-market has stunned many people, including some parliamentarians.  One senior government member of the House also said outside the chamber of the House of Assembly Monday that he was shocked that Kerzner would make such a request.

The official also confirmed that Kerzner officials did send a letter to the Cabinet advising of their concerns. 

Kerzner International Fears Competition In The High-end Tourism Market From Cable Beach Resorts in Nassau, The Bahamas

The Bahamian landscape has been “littered with failures” from resorts seeking to go after the same market

Kerzner Fears “Bloodbath”

By Candia Dames

candiadames@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

14/06/2004

Kerzner International would have to “reassess things” if there is any development on Cable Beach that goes after the high-end tourism market, according to Butch Kerzner, the company’s CEO.

Mr. Kerzner, who was a special guest on the radio Love 97 programme “Jones and Company” Sunday, said while Kerzner welcomes healthy competition, any improvements on Cable Beach should be geared at the mid-market.

“Cable Beach has been able to go very strongly after the mid-market when they reinvested in their product, and I think that if they continue to reinvest in their product and continue to create a product that can go after the mid-market segment, that’s great for us,” he said. “That’s great for the destination.”

But Mr. Kerzner said it would be “lunacy” if Cable Beach and Paradise Island went head to head.

He added that the Bahamian landscape has been “littered with failures” from resorts seeking to go after the same market.  He pointed out that the high-end market in the United States – the main source of tourists to The Bahamas – is less than three percent.

Mr. Kerzner said there was a “fiasco” in the late 1980’s when the owners of the Crystal Palace tried to compete with Paradise Island.

“There was a bloodbath for both of them,” he said, “and we bought the property out of bankruptcy because of that…  My sense is that the history is so clear it doesn’t make sense in such a small market where you get [fewer] than one million people per year coming through the market to have a product that goes head to head.”

Mr. Kerzner also said, “I think the sensible approach to tourism generally is that you segment the market…  We’ve obviously got the over $300 room rates market and that’s a very small market…  It would seem unlikely to me that what is going to be encouraged is to have a destination go after the exact same market.”

His comments come as many people await an announcement regarding future development on Cable Beach that was promised months ago by Prime Minister Perry Christie.

In fact, Mr. Christie has said that he expects to announce a $1 billion investment project for Cable Beach, in addition to plans to revitalize the strip.  The government expects that this would complement the recent announcement regarding the $1 billion expansion of the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island.

Mr. Kerzner on Sunday made it clear that his company is not against competition.

“I don’t think we would be cautious about somebody saying they are going to come in and compete…  One thing we’re not afraid of is a little bit of competition.  It keeps people on their toes and I think that’s all very good,” he said.

But Mr. Kerzner added, “It would really depend on if you’re going to try and develop another ‘me too’ product, then we’d say ‘that doesn’t seem [to be] a very sensible approach’.   And at that point, we’d think about that.  I just don’t think we’re going to be there.”

Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe, who spoke with the Journal Sunday, said The Bahamas itself is a high-end market.  The Minister added that Cable Beach hotels and other properties throughout the country are being encouraged to go high-end.

But he pointed out that there is diversity in the high-end market.

“Kerzner International has created that [high-end market] to a large degree,” Minister Wilchcombe said.  “The truth is, at the moment, Exuma is attracting high-end business.  The Four Seasons with its clientele, that’s high-end…  In Grand Bahama, there is developing there a high-end product.”

He added that The Bahamas wants to maintain high average room rates and high arrivals.

“We cannot in our country, because of our limited number of rooms, have anything other than high-end business,” said the Minister, who pointed out that The Bahamas only has about 15,000 hotel rooms.

He said he does not expect to see Cable Beach competing head-on with Paradise Island.

“I think what we’re going to see are properties that fit into the same category so far as the standards of excellence, beauty and uniqueness,” Minister Wilchcombe said.  “Based on what I’ve seen, I don’t think we’re going to have a hotel that’s going to compete against Atlantis.  I think we would wish to have in The Bahamas uniquely different properties all of which are attracting different types of visitors.”