By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A prominent businessman yesterday said it was “inevitable” that a fully-open Cuba will eventually “take a piece of the Bahamian tourism pie”, amid calls for this nation to urgently boost its economic competitiveness.
Dionisio D’Aguilar told Tribune Business that the latest step taken by the US and Cuba to ‘normalise’ diplomatic and economic relations would likely have little to no impact on the Bahamian economy in the short-term.
Yet he agreed that yesterday’s developments had brought closer the day when the US would lift restrictions on American leisure/business travellers visiting Cuba, thereby threatening the source market that provides between 80-85 per cent of this nation’s annual stopover visitors and the majority of its cruise passengers.
Showing what could happen to the Bahamas when Americans were allowed to freely travel to the US, Mr D’Aguilar recalled his recent vacation to south-east Asia.
There, a hotel sales manager in Laos told him that bookings were down by 50 per cent because nearby Burma had opened up to foreign travel.
Meanwhile, Gowon Bowe, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman, told Tribune Business it was now even more urgent for this nation to make progress in areas such as energy reform.
He explained that such initiatives were vital to maintaining the Bahamas’ tourism competitiveness and ‘value for money’ proposition against a lower-cost Cuba that was now increasingly opening up to America visitors.
But, on the positive side, Mr Bowe called on the Bahamian private sector to exploit its existing links and proximity to Cuba to be the ‘first movers’ into that country on export and business opportunities.
From the Bahamas’ narrow perspective, the good thing about yesterday’s events is that the US embargo and general travel restrictions on Cuba remain, with Congress unlikely to ease this any time soon.
Travel restrictions, though, have been eased in 12 specialist categories, this ushering in the day the Bahamas should have long prepared for - that of Cuba opening up fully to the US tourism and casino gaming market.
That market has effectively been closed for 55 years, since Fidel Castro and his ‘Barbudos’ swept down from the Sierra Maestra mountains in 1959, helping to ensure the Bahamas’ enduring relative success in tourism.
But yesterday’s Washington-Havana diplomatic ‘breakthrough’ adds another challenge to the multiple issues confronting the Bahamian economy and its private sector, and will likely spark much-needed debates on diversification and competitiveness.
“That’s another thing for us to contend with,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business of yesterday’s US-Cuba pronouncements.
“In the short-term, it probably means nothing. But in the medium to long-term there probably is somewhat of a risk to our tourism arrivals numbers because interest will be piqued by something different and new.”
Cuba, Mr D’Aguilar added, had just those qualities, plus long-standing ties to the Cuban-American community in south Florida - a key Bahamian source market.
“It adds one more destination in the Caribbean to choose from, which doesn’t bode well for established tourism destinations such as the Bahamas in the medium-term,” the former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce president told Tribune Business.
The short-term impact on the Bahamas from even a minor ‘opening up’ of Cuba is likely to be minimal to non-existent.
This is because Cuba has much to do to get its hotels and related tourism infrastructure up to international standard.
Then there are also the issues surrounding the outstanding multi-billion dollar reparations claims that US companies have against the Cuban government, which nationalised their property and assets in the early 1960s.
Finally, despite efforts to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI), the Castro regime has in recent years still displayed its controlling tendencies by jailing various foreign businessmen and seizing their businesses/assets. None of which, to put it bluntly, is good for business.
Still, Mr D’Aguilar emphasised that Cuba was a “sexy destination”, with a culture, history and mythology likely superior to the Bahamas. It was also able to offer a ricah variety of diverse experiences via its mountains and other geography.
“I don’t think we can really maintain our market share when Cuba opens up,” Mr D’Aguilar warned. “People will be interested in going there who have not gone before.
“I don’t think we can combat that. It’s going to take a piece of your pie. It’s inevitable. I don’t think you can do anything to prevent that. I don’t think we can stop that. We just have to adapt to the fact it’s going to happen.”
Mr D’Aguilar said that, much like the Bahamas’ Baha Mar/Atlantis conundrum, the ‘saving grace’ with Cuba could be that the island attracted more visitors to the Caribbean - growing the tourism pie, rather than splitting it.
“We can sit here and prophesise until the cows come home,” he added. “We can pull our hair out, but don’t know what is going to happen.”
Mr Bowe, meanwhile, said that while Cuba had “always been a significant rival” to the Bahamas on tourism, any opening to US visitors ushered in a new era.
“If that opens up to the free flow of tourism and economic resources, that’s going to result in a new dynamic with respect to our economic activities,” he told Tribune Business.
“We have to ensure we remain competitive, and that’s where energy reform plays a big part.”
Mr Bowe essentially warned that the Bahamas needed to move with ever-more haste to boost its economic competitiveness via key reforms, ensuring its tourism industry gave “paid value for money” and was competitive on price.
“Once it gets fully open to the US, that’s a big challenge and big competitor for us,” he added.
Still, Mr Bowe said Bahamian companies had a “great opportunity” to be “first movers into Cuba, given that we understand them better than anyone else”.
Comments
GrassRoot 9 years, 4 months ago
labor cost for sure will be cheap.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 4 months ago
What business services can the Bahamas offer Cuba that they can't get more cheaply from the US? Technology? I doubt that.
concernedcitizen 9 years, 4 months ago
Don,t forget only America didn,t trade w/ Cuba they already get a lot of materials,products,services from Latin America
SP 9 years, 4 months ago
......... Perry Christie and Hubert Ingraham Are Dumb And Dumber Personified Par Non......
The PLP and FNM had 40 years to create a viable tourism product and all they did was enrich friends, family and lovers sprinkled with heavy dose's of unbridled political stupidity.
How the hell can this big dumb doofus have the ball (singular) to stand in front of us and tell us about Cuba opening up more to the U.S. having massive economic impact on Bahamas?
Where the phuck was Christie, Ingraham, the PLP and FNM living for the last 40 years?
Bahamas was number 1 in regional tourism in the 70's. The PLP & FNM stood around talking shyt for 40 years while Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba developed their tourism products into well oiled destinations with LOTS FOR TOURIST TO DO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Both PLP and FNM DID NOTHING to maintain, improve and diversify our tourism product for 40 phucking years......Now dumbshyt Christie is telling us nonsense????
How the hell can we have 5 MILLION tourist coming annually and NOT HAVE DEVELOPED ANY INFRASTRUCTURE TO INCREASE IN RESORT SPEND IN 40 PHUCKING YEARS????
Proximity alone should make Bahamas the playground of 400 MILLION North Americans....We should have theme parks from Mayaguana to Abaco.....YET WE HAVE NONE.....NONE......NONE.....NONE.....NONE....NONE.....NONE.....NOT PHUCKING ONE!!
Where the hell did Obie Whelchcombe and all past MINISTERS OF TOURISM learn about tourism? Those idiots couldn't find a tourist on mega cruise ship...and if they stumbled and fell across one....They wouldn't know what to do to make him want to spend his money here!
GET RID OF THE PLP AND FNM GROUP OF TRIBAL JACKASS'S OR LEARN TO FARM
GrassRoot 9 years, 4 months ago
There is not much the Bahamas can do with Cuba. Cuba has been in business with the world minus the U.S. over the past 40 years. American products were sold into Cuba via Europe, the big tourist chains are in Cuba with daily flights from Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris. I also don't think that the Bahamas business people are known for being fast movers when it comes down to international markets. Cuba will go through a decade of turmoil with law suits over expropriations, and the millionarios from Miami creating havoc in an inexisting real estate market, comparable to what happened in the Czech Republic or Hungary after the Wall came down. If they are smart, they will open Casinos and sink that boat on our end. If they smart the do stem cell research, which would sink that boat on our end too and if they are very smart they sell the Port in Havana to the Chinese with the Nicaragua canal coming, that will put Freeport out of commission. So what can we do? As usual, get rid of the corrupt Governments, lawyers and politicians, invest in a niche, high end tourist market similar to the Maldives and/or French Polynesia/Thaiti, maybe declare the whole of the Bahamas a natural habitat reserve, stop the poaching, shark killing, and focus on our smiles, happiness to attract the tourists.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 4 months ago
Get rid of corruption. It's the root of everything. Corruption is the love of money, the root of ALL evil (that includes murder). This government with its instant millionaires needs to resign. How is Renward doing btw? The FNM needs to dump its instant millionaires too
johnmcntsh 9 years, 4 months ago
I have been coming to New Providence for the last 11 years from the US. I can promise you, it is not your your prices that scare us away. You have a wonderful country and it is worth the money. Your CRIME scares the hell out of us!!!
SP 9 years, 4 months ago
Never mind the crime, at least we know to be as careful and aware moving about.
Greedy, corrupt, dumb politicians being followed by tribal idiots is what scares the hell out of us most!
banker 9 years, 4 months ago
My Canadian colleagues in the banking system have been going to Cuba for years. The holidays are cheaper than in the Bahamas, the food is better, and because Cuba needed foreign currency badly, there was no tiefin'. Anyone who tiefed from the tourist faced a brick wall in the morning with a firing squad.
Cuba is exotic. The food experience draw foodies from around the world. The music is fabulous. We let our music die with Ronny Butler, Dry Bread, King Eric and now we don't support guys like KB.
On top of everything, Cuban cigars will flood the United States. A recent magazine said that close to 90% of cigars sold as Cuban in the Bahamas are Honduran knock-offs.
With crime in the Bahamas, a monolithic economy, the two pillars of the economy dead and dying, it doesn't bode well. There will be anarchy and unrest as folks will not be able to feed their families.
And to think that when Mr. Ingraham tried to make eCommerce the third pillar of the economy, the PLP campaigned against him, and dumb and dumber Bahamian sheeple traded their votes for hams and turkeys and defeated that initiative as well as the equality of women initiative that Mr. Ingraham was promoting at the time.
Bad times ahead for those who don't have a ticket off the rock.
duppyVAT 9 years, 4 months ago
The only positive thing going for The Bahamas is that there are many isolated rural islands . Nassau and Freeport are in deep trouble and any other island that are depending on the present tourist economy model
SP 9 years, 4 months ago
Perry Gladstone Christie says he say what I say, and say what I say, without any plausible reason for saying what I said!
Christie and Ingraham really need to return the favor and help their President, Michel Martelly by going down to Haiti to tell the Haitian people how to vote in their next elections.
Better take pictures of them prior to the trip, Because the Haitians will massicur them immediately.
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