August 29, 2023
Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club Co. Ltd. has a number of suggestions for the legislation of The Bahamas to change for the greater benefit of Bahamians. How to more than double Bahamian excursion operator net profits overnight? How to double Bahamian employment opportunities overnight.
Currently, any company can facilitate the booking of tours and excursions for Bahamian operators. Included in this are foreign companies that act as “middle-men” including the cruise lines.
As an example, motorized water sports are reserved for Bahamians and designed to protect watersports operators from foreign ownership. Unfortunately, foreign operators, such as the cruise lines, have now extensively leveraged this legislation for their own financial benefit by taking the lion’s share of revenues, skimming off a significant percentage of top line revenues for their own benefit and then exporting those proceeds out of The Bahamas. This huge portion of revenues generated in The Bahamas is barred from any opportunity to enter Bahamians’ pockets.
60, 70, 80% of top line revenue is taken by the cruise lines while it is the Bahamian tour operator doing 100% of the work, absorbing 100% of the operating costs including but not limited to liability insurance, Bahamian labour, increasing fuel costs, National Insurance contributions and business license fees and end up netting a meagre portion for doing all of the work. This is an unfair practice and provides an unlevel playing field while cruise lines operate with foreign labour and not having to pay NIB. There is no doubt: not having to the pay the same fees as Bahamians with some “Heads of Agreement” such as business licensing fees, etc puts Bahamians at a disadvantage before they even open their doors.. If the cruise lines mean well then they should be the first ones to be transparent with the Bahamian people in what discounts and incentives they are receiving as superior treatment than our own Bahamian people.
The solution is to bar all foreign booking agents from being able to book any tours and keep this as reserved for Bahamian tour operators: forcing those seeking to book excursions with the Bahamian tour company or actual Bahamian excursion operator.
Further, there is an extremely high number of foreign nationals that are coming off the cruise ships and actively engaged in gainful occupation of the cruise line destinations within The Bahamas. There are now twelve such “Private Cays” operating already or scheduled for opening in our island nation; most of which is Bahamian Crown Land. While such Crown Land should solely be used for the benefit and financial gain of Bahamians; cruise lines have realized that rather than coming New Providence or Grand Bahama there is a huge financial advantage to going to an “all for me baby Bahamian Cay”
We have seen Royalty from foreign lands through Colonization come to the Bahamas already and claim what they want from us, offer us glass beads and searching for gold. Wake up Bahamas! Have we not learned since 1492? It’s still happening, these cruise lines only have to woo those that make the decision and we are sold out from our birthright for the sake of a bowl of porridge (modern day fancy banquet on our dime!). This has to stop! How many Bahamians have seen the “Heads of Agreement”, craftily hidden away under lock and key? Bring it to light so the “people of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas” referred to so frequently while trying to convince us “getting swung is a good ting” can see and decide if it is in our best interest.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines have recently made fanfare that they are providing job fairs for Bahamians in New Providence, Berry Island, North Andros and South Andros: this proves that the more Bahamians push for equal rights and fair hiring practices, as RCl seeks to move towards hiring Bahamians over foreign crew members, who I am advised need not have a valid Bahamian work permit and do not have to contribute towards our emptying bowl of National Insurance. Here’s a foreign company competing for revenues brought into the country and automatically allowed to operate with cheap, imported foreign labour while Bahamians have to struggle for the crumbs of what ends up for us all to fight among ourselves for! Bahamians have high labour costs and have to pay NIB, why are we being disadvantaged by further colonization?
By putting Bahamians first, legislation can be passed which puts Bahamians in every position on these “Private Islands” and more wealth will stay in our beloved Bahamaland!
Sincerely yours,
Captain Toby C.S. Smith.