The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I operate a travel ASUE on WhatsApp and have sent clients on a regular basis to both Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Florida has always been a popular destination for these travellers — on any given long weekend look for the suitcases in Sawgrass!

Since the United States has introduced some of the harshest entry requirements in the whole world, my clients no longer want to visit Florida. They claim they would rather go to the Mall here—at Marathon!?—than be forced to take a COVID-19 test and quarantine in the U.S. I cannot understand why the newly elected President has designed rules so cumbersome such that these travellers would choose not to travel.

Please keep in mind many of these clients have second timeshares in Fort Lauderdale and personally know the waitstaff at every Cheesecake Factory in Broward county.

Sawgrass Mills desperately needs Bahamian shoppers to survive. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the leisure and hospitality industry lost over 23,000 jobs in 2020. The outlook remains grim for 2021 — but unnecessarily so! If US officials understood just how much retailers were hurting, they might be more keen on easing restrictions and letting Bahamians back in.

If these harsh quarantine restrictions remain in place, I wonder where these Bahamian tourists will go? Fresh Market is hardly a substitute for Walmart. The writer is presently unaware whether Town Centre Mall is still in operation. Cost Right?

No — we need Sawgrass! Having flown Bahamasair to and from both Fort Lauderdale and Miami—older readers will still remember D60’s hayday—for most of my life, it is truly a shame to see such strict measures spoil a national pastime.

CALYPSO

Nassau,

January 25, 2021