The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister said yesterday it was too late to worry about the impact from Cuba opening up to US tourists, as research indicates that it surpassed the Bahamas “some time ago”.

Speaking with Tribune Business following a briefing on National Development Plan’s progress, Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, said: “While we are talking about our tourism product being at risk when Cuba opens, the research has shown us that Cuba has overtaken us some time ago in terms of tourist arrivals. Us worrying about Cuba opening up is somewhat of a misnomer or miscalculation.”

The decision by the US to normalise relations with Cuba after more than 50 years, and significantly ease restrictions on travel and commerce, has been viewed by many as a major threat to the Bahamas’ tourism sector. Tourism Minister, Obie Wilchcombe, recently told Tribune Business that his Ministry was analysing multi-destination travel arrangements with Cuba.

Mr Rolle, meanwhile, said the Bahamas has effectively “flat lined” while being outpaced by its competitors. “We started off in the 1960s similar to our competitors,” he said.

“We outpaced them and we flat-lined, and they continued to grow while we flat-lined. That’s one of the observations that the research has shown us. That’s one of the analyses we did.

“We looked at different things, analysing where the Bahamas is versus Singapore and Ireland, for instance, and it shows that we started off in the 1960s where we outpaced them and then we flat-lined.”

Mr Rolle added: “All of the research is going to be compiled into one document that will reflect the state of affairs in the country. That is significant because it will give a comprehensive view of The Bahamas post-Independence.

“It allows us to make a policy decision. We know that it’s difficult when we try to solve problems in isolation because one may not understand all of the underlying circumstances.

“The state of the nation report will be reached shortly. We are still testing the research thus far,” Mr Rolle added.

“The next phase is to start looking at where we want to go as a country. We expect people to tell us what they would like to see their county look like, and we use the data gathered to establish policy positions and strategies, which will be the last phase. That document will be the plan. Right now we re getting an understanding of the country as it exists.”