The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I had a dream the other night about seeing a horse race track and casino in the Bahamas. In my dream, this place was located somewhere in the Eastern District.

I thought to myself, in my dream, this is an ideal place for Bahamians to satisfy their urge for gambling. I also thought of the thousands of Bahamians that found work here and a new industry had opened up in the process.

These included bus tours to the race track, taxis by the hundreds, cashiers, trainers, horse groomers,  jockeys, security, ground keepers, restaurants, clubs and shops, convention facilities, meeting rooms and much more.

This would be a designated place for Bahamians to gamble, a place were government could have strict control of the games. They can tax these people whatever casino tax is around the world. It would be a fantastic entertainment item for our gambling tourists, which would be an ideal venue to generate money that we may not have been able to before.

Special native horse races, with Abaco horses, and Inagua mules, can be bred and trained to put on special events for our cruise ship passengers that wish to go on a tour or in taxis. Daily native shows and calypso bands will again  have the opportunity to entertain to perform for visitors to our country.

There are investors out there that are in the gaming business and some of our Bahamian investors that would jump at an opportunity like this. It will turn our whole tourist industry around and up.

We are not getting, at the moment, 10 per cent of the business that we should be getting, it’s because we are not offering anything unique. We have lots of unique features, but we are not putting them in a place of convenience  for our guests to experience and enjoy. We have been doing the same things over and over. We’re not going ahead, we are just going around.

Let’s admit it, the Bahamas has not come up with a tourist attracting feature since the poster with the young lady coming out of the water saying, “It’s better in the Bahamas”, that’s got to be 40 years ago. How come we are still in the tourist business is a wonder.

This is a good thing, try it.

BOBNEVIL

Nassau,

February 19, 2014.