The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas “cannot rest on our laurels” despite a 20 percent growth forecast for its tourism industry that is more than three times’ greater than the world average, the deputy prime minister is warning.

Chester Cooper, in a videotaped interview on his trip to Saudi Arabia and the World Travel and Tourism Council’s global summit, asserted that The Bahamas “continues to punch above our weight class” by leading the Caribbean in the post-tourism recovery.

However, he warned that The Bahamas “must go further” in embracing technology and digital payments so that when visitors arrive in this nation they have access to all the tools they are accustomed to using at home  - something that will he key for “seamless, frictionless, contactless” travel moving forward. The “harmonisation” of this country’s banking and data protection laws so that they are “in sync” with global standards was identified as critical to this outcome.

And Mr Cooper also admitted that The Bahamas has been losing market share to fast-growing Caribbean rivals, such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Jamaica, who have greatly expanded their hotel and room inventories so they can accommodate larger visitor numbers.

Urging Bahamas-based hotel owners, operators and investors to inject capital into expanding or developing new properties, Mr Cooper nevertheless predicted that the country will “beat” 2019’s pre-COVID numbers in 2023 and produce what could be “the best year ever seen in tourism”.

He asserted: “Tourism is growing in leaps and bounds around the world. The WTTC is projecting 5.8 percent growth. I am pleased to tell you The Bahamas is outstripping this growth significantly. We are projecting a 20 percent growth. This warms our hearts that when we benchmark what we are doing, we continue to be leaders.

“We continue to be leaders in the Caribbean. Our rebound continues to be faster than the rest of the world, quite frankly, so we are doing a lot of things right. We know we cannot rest on our laurels. There is significantly increased consumer demand. There is more need for seamless, contactless travel. We have to innovate, we have to ensure that our stakeholders are innovative, and we have to use technology efficiently and this transcends the tourism industry.”

It was not clear what the basis, or benchmark, is for The Bahamas’ 20 percent tourism growth. A WTTC study reported on by Tribune Business today (see other article on Page 1B) predicted that The Bahamas’ compound annual average growth (CAGR) rate over the next decade through to 2032 will be around 6 percent, just above the Caribbean and world average.

Mr Cooper, meanwhile, justified The Bahamas’ strong presence at the WTTC meeting by arguing that “we have to be at the table” to influence the future direction of global tourism, stay current with global trends, “ensure we are on the cutting edge” and meet private sector owners, operators and investors.

“We must ensure the harmonisation of banking rules and data protection laws to ensure we are in sync with what is happening in the rest of the world,” the deputy prime minister added, “and as we build new airports we must ensure these airports have the newest technology available so there can be seamless, frictionless travel......

“We are part of a global village, and when I say that I make the point that when we talk about frictionless travel we talk about a cashless society. We must ensure that the technology that is being used elsewhere in the world is adaptable and usable in The Bahamas and we can facilitate its use.”

Mr Cooper said visitors from New York would expect to be able to use Apple Pay, and those from eastern Europe to employ Veem, in paying for hotel rooms, taxis, car rentals and other goods and services during their Bahamas vacation. He acknowledged that The Bahamas was making “significant inroads in this space” through the Central Bank-backed digital currency, the Sand Dollar; the emergence of digital wallet and payment providers; and acceptance of debit/credit cards.

“However, we must go further,” he argued. “Everyone has a digital cell phone. This is the way of the future, and we must ensure our rules are harmonised with the rest of the world when it comes to banking, when it comes to data protection. We have to consistently stay on the cutting edge.” The deputy prime minister said the world will eventually move to biometric technology for Immigration and Customs clearance, and The Bahamas must be ready for such a switch.

Mr Cooper also called for The Bahamas to refresh and upgrade its tourism product, citing Saudi Arabia’s plans to build “many giga projects” as but one example of what other countries are doing. “That tells me we have to continue to invest in our product,” he added. “We need more rooms. I want to ask the investment community to build more hotels, build more rooms, build more capacity.

“We can fill these rooms but we need the inventory. We have to continue to improve what we offer as we have, essentially over the last decade or so, perhaps 15 years, lost our ranking in terms of share of the market. We continue to do extremely well. We continue to grow. But the Caribbean region is growing their room inventory and capacity faster than we are, and therefore their part of the overall pie. They are achieving better results on market share.”

Mr Cooper, though, argued that The Bahamas still had much to play for. “The Bahamas’ brand is very strong,” he said. “We continue to grow, we will beat 2019 in 2023, which perhaps will be the best year ever seen in tourism. We have the irons in the fire, we are carrying the message, and I look forward to completing this year in line with 2019 and 2023 ahead of 2019.”