The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Bahama Out Island Promotion Board’s president yesterday called for a co-ordinated national strategy to lower costs and improve efficiency so that the tourism industry remains competitive as he warned the sector cannot remain viable without sweeping expense reductions.

Emanuel “Manny” Alexiou, speaking at the Bahama Out Islands Promotion Board’s annual general meeting (AGM), highlighted the increasing cost of operating tourism businesses on the Family Islands. He added that while some are making money, they can only continue to thrive if they can control expenses and operate efficiently.

He added that the sector faces a wide range of costs, and to remain competitive, businesses and government need to reduce expense, cut bureaucratic red tape, and find ways to systematically lower these multiple expenditures.

“Our costs are equally increasing with our revenue, and that's the main point. Some places are making money. If we weren't, we wouldn't be in business. So the businesses will thrive if they can make a profit. We have to reduce costs and red tape… tourism is everybody's business, and we can communicate, but we have a lot of costs,” said Mr Alexiou.

“We have not just electricity. We have insurance, we have housing, work productivity, workforce development. A lot of costs, and you have to find a way to chip away at all of these costs, water, security…”

Mr Alexiou said that charging high prices alone will not guarantee profitability. To remain sustainable, operators must control costs, improve services and ensure government policies support long-term tourism growth.

“Why would somebody pay a high fee to stay in a hotel room and have no air conditioning? Why would they stay in a boat when they can't have the boat plugged in and pay a high dockage fee? We’re going to reduce our rates and encourage those who can't afford it, but we won't make a profit,” said Mr Alexiou.

“So, at the end of the day, in order to make a profit, we have to increase occupancy and decrease costs, or charge higher and higher rates, which at some point is not sustainable. We have to look at the big picture, cut costs, change government policies.”

Mr Alexiou emphasised that effective results require proper follow-through, maintenance and skilled, motivated personnel within a comprehensive long-term strategy to address systemic issues.

“You have to throw money to solve a problem, but money by itself does not solve a problem if it can't be followed through. I could buy the best generators to produce the best electricity, but if they're not maintained properly or the workforce is not educated enough, or doesn’t have the attitude or the ethics of work, these machines that normally somewhere else may last 10 years — in our case here, they have problems in one or two or three years,” said Mr Alexiou.

“It's part of the overall policy. And I'm going to come back to the master plan of how do we develop this country to be able to fix all these silos?”