The tourism sector in The Bahamas is presently experiencing a slowdown, attributed to a latest journey advisory issued by the USA.
On January 24, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas, issued a travel alert that warned U.S. residents to remember that 18 individuals had been murdered in Nassau for the reason that begin of the yr. “Murders have occurred in any respect hours together with in broad daylight on the streets. Retaliatory gang violence has been the first motive in 2024 murders,” it learn.
The general journey advisory for The Bahamas stays unchanged at Level 2, which advises U.S. residents to train elevated warning in The Bahamas as a consequence of crime.
Prime Minister Philip Davis acknowledged the influence of the journey advisory on the nation’s tourism sector, noting issues a few decline in customer numbers.
“You see the advisory that went out the opposite day, how that has taken legs? We are actually listening to some issues concerning the falloff in tourism,” Davis stated on Monday as he mentioned his administration’s plans to take care of the crime scenario.
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“Proper now, the lodges are seeing some fall off, however extra importantly, those that are within the lodges in the present day, they’re not popping out into the neighborhood. They’re not going to the eating places, for instance. They’re not going sightseeing as they used to,” he stated.
“In fact, the lodge house owners don’t thoughts as a result of so long as they’re staying within the lodges … they’re spending all of it there. So right here once more, we’re capturing ourselves in our foot by permitting this to get out of hand,” he stated.
Decline in Airbnb leases
Exterior of lodges, there was additionally a slowdown in short-term rental bookings final month.
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In January, short-term rental bookings in The Bahamas fell 7.3% in comparison with the identical month in 2023 after seeing months of development, based on AirDNA. Reservations per property and occupancy at short-term leases have been down 10%, based on Key Data.
The Bahamas has recorded 25 murders to this point this yr with police saying most of the homicides are gang associated.
Davis urged the press to grasp their function in sustaining the nation’s popularity, saying that different nations give much less prominence to sure crimes than the native media does.
Equally, Jamaica’s tourism sector has additionally been negatively impacted by the USA’ Degree 3 journey advisory, which urged residents to rethink journey to the island as a consequence of crime and lack of correct medical companies.
