By YOURI KEMP
Tribune Business Reporter
ykemp@tribunemedia.net
A major tour operator yesterday branded The Bahamas COVID-19 response as a “disaster" and voiced fears that the cruise ships may bypass Nassau even if they resume sailing in November.
Peter Rebmann, Pearl Island's managing partner, told Tribune Business he was "very surprised" by media reports suggesting that the Trump White House overruled the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) push for the ban on cruise ship sailing to be extended until February 2021. Instead, the industry will be allowed to sail from November, although there has been no official confirmation.
“I’m not surprised that the cruise ships were all telling us a long time ago that before November there is nothing going on, so I don’t expect anything in 2020. It’s a complete write off. It’s certainly a disaster for every tour operator involved with the cruise lines. But I also understand all of the safety concerns,” said Mr Rebmann.
"Certainly nobody wants to be stuck on a cruise ship in a situation where their home port changed suddenly, or you have a COVID outbreak on the ship and you are suddenly under quarantine again. It’s a very, very tricky situation right now and we have to see.
"I expect an official statement from the CDC today or tomorrow because the 'no-sail' order was running out yesterday, so in hindsight there should be an official statement as of yesterday or maybe today and then we go from there.”
Mr Rebmann added: “We had 119 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. I remember three weeks ago the lady from the Ministry of Health had said we are seeing a flattening of the curve, but I would like to hear explanations from the Government on how on God’s earth can you say we are flattening the curve and our numbers are a nightmare?
"That’s exactly what the CDC is seeing, it is exactly what the hotels are seeing, and it is exactly what the cruise line industry is seeing right now. Who the hell wants to come to The Bahamas right now? This is an absolute hot-spot, and it drives me crazy that people in The Bahamas are still denying the COVID, or coming with crazy conspiracy stories.
"It doesn’t matter what you think, reality is what the world thinking about us, and what is the tourism sector thinking about us? Right now we can dream all day long about a big opening on October 15, but nobody will come with our COVID numbers. Nobody will come," he continued.
"That’s why the hotels are not opening because they are not buying it from the Government. These numbers are a catastrophe, and this is our biggest problem right now, not the hotels and not the CDC. We need to focus on our own stuff here in this country and our numbers are outrageous. This is a nightmare, 10 percent plus every three or four days? That is simply unacceptable."
Comments
Kalikgold 4 years, 2 months ago
Ain't nobody going on a cruise right now, I think that is your biggest problem Mr. Major Tour Operator. But sure lash out on Bahamas. Them stop over tourist don't spend money anyways, just crowding up downtown
tribanon 4 years, 2 months ago
Re-post:
This is an ideal opportunity for our nation to pivot away from lower-class (cheap) tourists who arrive by sea to higher-class tourists who arrive by air. Our tourism industry must start focusing on the type of tourist that contributes to our economy rather than just the total number of tourists.
We should be telling the cruise ship companies to go fly a kite until such time that they are willing to pay us a per passenger head tax that adequately compensates our country for the very significant costs of properly managing and regulating the liability, health, pollution and environmental risks these behemoth floating hotels pose for our small nation.
They should have all along been paying us a per passenger head tax many multiples of times greater than the current pathetically low head tax just to compensate us for their very greedy 'all-inclusive' business model that capitalizes on our excellent weather conditions for most of the year, our pristine seas, our small islands and our world-class beaches. Their unwillingness to establish significant linkages to local businesses for the benefit of our economy speaks volumes about their insatiable greed at our expense.
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