Marinas seek charter clarity amid fear of 20% increase
Bahamian marinas are seeking clarity on whether the 10 percent VAT on foreign yacht charter contracts will be levied on pre-existing deals come July 1 amid fears this will be “a tough pill to swallow”.
COVID rebound uneven for Family Island resorts
Family Island resorts have recovered to 80 percent of pre-COVID business volumes, a senior tourism official has revealed, but the rebound remains uneven because of airlift woes impacting some locations.
Bust or deflated
ActivTrades
ACCORDING to experts, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin is entering its lowest and darkest market phase. The price of Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since December 2020 on Wednesday, and even hit $20,000 for a short time. The oldest digital currency was trading at around $20,500 on Friday, June 17.
Over $1.2m provided to Andros farmers, fishing
The Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) says it has facilitated some $1.216m in financing for 57 farming and fishing entrepreneurs in Andros.
Vacation homes, retail driving Andros growth
The Andros Chamber of Commerce president says the island experienced “significant growth” in 2021 with vacation homes and the retail sector leading the way.
DEREK SMITH: ‘Box checking’ no security guarantee
A new era of technology-based businesses has begun. Technology is used for every aspect of business, from accepting client instructions electronically to processing credit cards, accepting wire transfers and storing employee and customer information. Simply put: Any business requirement can be met with technology.
‘Options limited’ over relief for gas dealers
The Ministry of Finance’s top official yesterday said the Government’s “options are limited” in providing the relief sought by petroleum retailers struggling with gross margins of 10 percent or less.
‘No break’: Property cover to stick near all-time high
A Bahamian insurer yesterday warned “there’s just no scope for a break” on property insurance prices that are “pretty close” to all-time highs following double-digit percentage increases last year.
Bahamas must get youth for ‘leg up’ on Caribbean
The Bahamas was yesterday urged to start a youth movement so it can grow - for “generations to come” - a flats fishing industry likely to have expanded far beyond its $141m economic impact in 2010.
Airlift ‘bane of everyone’s life’
Andros has exceeded last year’s total stopover visitors by 66.5 percent in just the first four months of 2022, it was revealed yesterday, despite airlift woes being “the bane of everybody’s life”.
‘Train’s left station’: MSC eyes cruise port’s owner
Nassau Cruise Port’s $300m transformation will not be disrupted by a shipping giant’s interest in acquiring its controlling shareholder, its chief executive asserted yesterday, adding: “That train left the station a long time ago.”
‘Christmas comes early’ for tourism with COVID easing
Tourism operators yesterday said “Christmas has come early” after the Government announced the elimination of COVID entry testing for vaccinated visitors and the Health Travel Visa with effect from this Sunday.
Insurers seek ‘urgent’ PM meeting on VAT reforms
Bahamian insurers are seeking “an urgent meeting” with the Prime Minister before the week ends over VAT-related reforms that will potentially increase medical bills and treatment costs for thousands of Bahamians.
‘We won’t give shop away for porridge’
The deputy prime minister yesterday pledged that the Davis administration will “not give the shop away to investors for a bowl of porridge” as he revealed it is presently reviewing the tax breaks granted to them.
DPM aims to ‘double’ stopovers in 3 years
The Bahamas is aiming to “double” stopover visitor numbers within the next three years as it bids to reverse its “shrinking” share of the Caribbean visitor market, the deputy prime minister revealed yesterday.
