The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president says business for many Nassau-based and other members ahead of the peak US independence holiday on July 4 is “50 percent of what it was”, and asserted: “We did this to ourselves.”

Peter Maury told Tribune Business that The Bahamas became “over zealous and too greedy”, and tried to extract too much in taxes from the boating/yachting sector without proper warning and consultation for those affected, as he branded the Government’s boating fee reforms that took effect from April 1, 2026, as “too little, too late” to fully rescue the summer season.

Pointing specifically to the foreign yacht charter business, which saw its tax rate more than triple from 4 percent to 14 percent when VAT was added in mid-2022, he argued that it had “killed” the market’s highest-spending segment and all those “supportive” Bahamian businesses - such as mechanics, provisioners, hull and interior cleaners and Family Island food stores - that rely heavily on it for income. Mr Maury, pointing out that the charter yacht sector was not impacted by boating fee reforms more geared to day-trip and short-term boaters visiting Bimini and the northern Bahamas, told this newspaper: “It’s the week before July 4. I met with several of the marinas in Nassau, and everyone is surprised at how empty we are for this time of year.

“It’s right before US independence and July 10 [Bahamian independence], and it’s empty. A lot of the marina bookings are very slow. Some of the marinas will tell you it’s the worse June they’ve seen in a decade. People have already made their travel reservations, and the changes they made in April were too little, too late. We’re missing a huge segment of the market, the charter market, and the Government has to put in huge changes for that; it’s just killing the supportive economy.”

The first Davis administration introduced two new cruising permit fee categories, the 30-day and six-month permits, in April in a bid to reverse the significant fall-off in boating and yachting traffic to Bimini and other northern Bahamas destinations due to the cost increases and uncertainty imposed on short-term visitors and smaller boats.

One Bimini homeowner, speaking to this newspaper yesterday, said that - while there has been an increase in boating traffic to the island since the changes - business has yet to recover to the volumes seen prior to the original amendments implemented on July 1, 2025.

“I was there a couple of weeks ago, and there’s definitely more boats but it’s definitely still way off,” the source said. “There’s more activity than when the boating fees were in place, but things are not back to normal. I’m sure a lot of that has to do with the cost of fuel. In Bimini, it was $7.80 for a gallon of gas. It’s always been more expensive there, but I don’t recall it being double what it is on the street in the US. It’s $3.75 there.”

Mr Maury, meanwhile, lamented a fall-out he asserted extends far beyond just Bahamian marinas. “They need to understand this is high-level tourism that brings a lot of money into this country for Bahamian businesses,” he said of the Government. “When people were making travel reservations last year, people knew nothing about the Iran war and the cost of fuel, so they can’t blame it on that. Diesel has dropped and gas in Florida is at $3.70.”

Asked how much marina occupancies and bookings were off in the run-up to US independence, compared to prior years, the ABM president replied: “Oh, 50 percent; half of what it was. We brought this on ourselves. At some point, the Government has to recognise the importance of this tourism segment for Family Island communities because central and southern marinas are empty.”

Pointing to hotel and vacation rental accommodation, as well as the impact to restaurants, liquor and grocery stores, and multiple other sectors from the loss of boating traffic, Mr Maury said: “This is direct money into our economy, new money coming into Bahamian businesses and the lives of Bahamians in our economy.

“The Government needs to sit with the private sector and hear it from the ABM, Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) and Bahanms Out Island Promotion Board, as well as the Bahamas Yacht Brokers Association (BYBA). The BYBA is saying there’s less bookings in The Bahamas and less charters being booked.

“These guys [the Government] can sit there and make excuses about anything they want. The truth is that we did this to ourselves. They got over zealous and too greedy, and tried to get too much money out of the industry and killed it. This Budget cycle, they had better get to grips with it and fix it, or it will get worse,” the ABM president added.

“I have spoken and met with boat and yacht owners who said they will go elsewhere. It’s too easy. I sat with a bunch of boat owners yesterday, and going to Mexico from Florida is 320 milles. It’s 250 miles from south Florida to The Bahamas. It’s not that much further, but there’s this whole misperception that these boats can’t go anywhere else. They can.”

Mr Maury said The Bahamas’ taxes and cumbersome, bureaucratic entry processes were making rival destinations “much more attractive” - especially since these locations offer cheaper fuel and provisions. “Something needs to be done. The Government needs to sit down and listen to stakeholders for a change. Otherwise it’s just going to get worse.

“There’s nobody in the industry that doesn’t want the Government to succeed, the country to succeed, because then we all succeed. There seems to be a misconception that we want this. Nobody wants this. But it seems like the Government has taken on an attitude that it doesn’t listen to anybody any more.”