The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Straw vendors were yesterday said to be bracing for a drop-off in visitor numbers and reduced tourism business due to the uncertainty created by US trade and economic policy.

Asserting that all her members “could do is pray and hope”, Rebecca Small, president of the Straw Businesspersons Society, told Tribune Business that only 20 percent of vendors in downtown Nassau’s Straw Market are doing fairly well with the other 80 percent struggling to make a profit.

She added that the ongoing tariff dispute between the US, Canada, Mexico and China will negatively impact tourism in The Bahamas by damaging consumer confidence in this nation’s top visitor source markets. Ms Small said she’s “afraid” that the financial strain vendors carry now now will only worsen if tourism slows.

“All you could do is pray and hope that business picks up,” Ms Small said. There are some people in the market, due to their location, making it and I was just talking to a vendor about two days ago. She said ‘Ms Small, there are a lot of people who are hurting in the market. But there’s a few people who are making it.’ So [it] depends on where you are located. You can make it, but the majority of the people are struggling.”

As for the trade and tariff uncertainty impacting the tourism industry, Ms Small added: “I could see it happening. And if they think now the struggle is real, if the vendors think now the struggle is real, wait until hell hits the fan. Wait until that really manifests itself.

“I am so overwhelmed I can’t even think that far. Right as we speak vendors are hurting in this market. So you can imagine, once the tariffs… I’m afraid. I’m afraid... I’m literally afraid to see if we’re struggling now and if the countries decide to have this tariff war and shopping decreases, boy we are going to be in plenty trouble.”

A charter company owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US economy dictates how The Bahamas performs. Concerned about a reduction in tourists, they do not believe The Bahamas will see an uptick in visitors from other countries to compensate for a drop-off in US visitors. 

“Those countries are further away,” they said. “Just [in] geographical position, we are [on] the doorstep of the US. We cannot take that away, that we are on the doorstep of the US, and therefore most of our tourists come from the US. That’s just a fact. That isn’t going to change.

“Even if you get an increase in the amount of tourists from those other countries, I don’t think it could make up to the numbers… I would say 80 percent of our tourists come from North America. And out of that 80 percent, I would say probably 80 percent of that 80 percent is from the US in general.”

Arool Major, owner of 700 Islands Adventure Tours, said he is not worried as The Bahamas may not only see an “uptick” in American tourists but foreign investments as well, with a number of visitors expressing their interest in becoming second home owners in the country.

“I would say we might see a slight dip,” Mr Major said. “We might see a slight uptick because people might not want to live in America any more, because a lot of people even though Trump won, in a lot of… states, a lot of people are saying they don’t want to live in the United States any more. I actually had tourists on my tour saying they’re looking to buy property down in The Bahamas because the prices are getting crazy. So, I guess it’s how you look at it. I’m looking at it for the positive.

“When I’m on tour with them, I let them know the only thing you really have to pay is VAT, and it’s nothing like in America where they got to pay income tax and all of that. I know Americans and foreigners, they can’t own certain businesses over here, but it’s still an opportunity for them to go over here… If they stay in the United States this can be a home away from home for them.”