The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Weddings industry professionals yesterday said they are “hurting desperately” due to the COVID-19 pandemic but allege they have been denied assistance from the National Insurance Board (NIB).

Cindy Coakley-Knowles, the Bahamas Bridal Association’s president, told Tribune Business: “Speaking with my members, and the association comprises of marriage officers, florists, entertainers, wedding planners, anybody that is involved with weddings, we represent them.

“Upon touching base with them initially we were all experiencing a lot of postponements, because we all cater to the tourist business for the most part. Then all of those postponements turned into cancellations, so we are all hurting desperately.

“Very few of us, like myself, maybe five or ten percent of our business is local, and it is the local business that is still holding on to being postponed. I’m rare in that all of my international business is just postponed and is on wait and see, and I have one of my local events where one of my brides was supposed to have gotten married on April 11.”

Ms Coakley-Knowles, who is the owner of Destination Weddings International, added: “We have found ourselves having to fall under that [self-employed] category with the National Insurance Board through the assistance package that the government has provided, but none of us have been fortunate. Because we are not straw vendors or taxi cab drivers, it is not easy for NIB to comprehend.

“An example that myself and another planner went through is that we submitted our business license. My license says Destination Weddings International, and I submitted a letter that is signed-off by the Ministry of Tourism explaining that what the BBA is and I am the president. I got a letter back from NIB saying that was not sufficient information to prove that I was a tourist-based business. That is beyond ridiculous.”

Ms Coakley-Knowles said NIB instructed her to go directly to the Ministry of Finance if she and her members wanted financial assistance since it was unable to help her.

Tribune Business saw a copy of the response e-mail that was sent to Ms Coakley-Knowles, which appears to be from the NIB claims department and dated April 1. It said: “We regret to inform you that your application for the government assistance: Self-employed unemployment benefit has been denied for the following reason. You did not provide any document showing that you worked in the tourism sector as a self-employed person.”

Dr Nicola Virgil-Rolle, NIB’s director, yesterday said she was unaware of the issues being experienced by Ms Coakley-Knowles and the other wedding planners. “The rules are quite clear,” she added. “The persons from the non-tourism sector need their business license, and for persons from tourism we have it all outlined on our website. The rules are quite clear.”

Ms Coakley-Knowles, meanwhile, said: “The Ministry of Tourism and Aviation has been working with me in terms of the way forward on the marketing perspective.

“With the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, the BBA is ready on day one post-COVID-19 to commence our marketing strategies in promoting our products and services to get business flowing back into the islands of The Bahamas. Right now we’re continuing other marketing strategies through our social media platforms like Instagram and our Facebook pages.”