NASSAU, Bahamas, September 8, 2020 – The Bahamas must “get real” on the urgent need to re-open its tourism industry, a Cabinet minister argued yesterday, adding: “We’ve got to pull the trigger”, The Tribune reported on September 8, in an article written by Business Editor Neil Hartnell.
Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that The Bahamas “cannot sit in a bubble and wait for everything to be perfect” with COVID-19 as he unveiled his ministry’s recommendation that hotels on every island be allowed to re-open on October 15.
Speaking after he unveiled this fresh attempt to revive tourism, which will see attraction, tour and excursion providers given the go-ahead to resume operations from November 1, Mr D’Aguilar said The Bahamas simply cannot afford the “trauma” of a second industry shutdown as he blasted: “We really have to get this right this time.”
He added that the Government had decided to “take the lead” on tourism’s return despite continued uncertainty over when the nation’s two mega resort flagships, Baha Mar and Atlantis, will welcome visitors as neither has announced a revised opening following closures stretching past five months.
Mr D’Aguilar argued that “we cannot behold the country to those two properties”, and wait for them to determine whether COVID-19 cases in The Bahamas’ core US markets have fallen-off sufficiently to allow them to re-open, given that the economic interests of multiple other hotels scattered through the island chain must also be prioritised.
He also acknowledged that the continued surge in COVID-19 cases in The Bahamas remains “a concern”, as this nation now cannot market itself as a COVID-19 free nation like it was able to do with the first re-opening in June. Another 39 cases were confirmed in this nation yesterday, taking the total to 2,585 – including 1,667 on New Providence. See complete Tribune article at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/sep/08/bahamas-must-get-real-over-tourism-re-opening/
