By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The upgraded travel warning on “high rates of crime” in the Bahamas, issued by this nation’s fastest-growing tourism market, yesterday reinforced the industry’s fears about the immense potential damage the recent surge in violence could cause.

Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of government and external affairs, said the Canadian market was “extremely important” to the Bahamian hotel and tourism industry, especially given that visitor arrivals from this source were up over 17 per cent for the five months to end-May 2014.

He added that Wednesday’s advisory from the Canadian government, which advised its citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution”, especially in Nassau, merely “reinforced” the sector’s message that crime threatened to jeopardise the long-term sustainability of the Bahamas’ largest industry.

The advisory, posted on the official Canadian government website, was headlined: ‘Bahamas - Exercise a high degree of caution’.

While there was no nationwide advisory in effect, the Canadian government told its citizens: “You should exercise a high degree of caution, especially in Nassau, due to high rates of crime.”

Tribune Business sources told this newspaper this had been upgraded from the previous: “There is no nationwide advisory in effect for the Bahamas. Exercise normal security precautions.”

Robert Ready, the non-resident Canadian High Commissioner for the Bahamas, indicated to Tribune Business that the enhanced warning’s release came with the lead-up to the peak winter tourism season in mind.

He confirmed: “We’ve taken our Travel Advisory up one level. We’ve done that based on our ongoing assessment on the safety and security conditions in the Bahamas.

“We’re aware of some increased violent activity in and around Nassau, and aware of what our international partners are doing - and thinking- with regard to their various advisories, and some tour operators.”

That appears to be a reference to the crime warning issued to US citizens earlier this year. Mr Ready said the Canadian government regularly assessed the crime and security situation in Nassau, and kept it under constant review.

Emphasising that the enhanced warning was the product of this regular review, Mr Ready said it was issued to protect the interests of Canadian travellers,”and as we get closer to the winter and high tourism season”.

He added: “We don’t plan to look at things before the tourism season. We just felt it was appropriate at this time to step up our advisory.

“Our advisory speaks for itself. There has been an increase in violent activity, and we have Canadians certainly wanting to be travelling to the Bahamas during tourist season. We want them to be cognisant of the situation and behave accordingly.”

The Canadian crime advisory speaks to the tourism/hotel industry’s worst fears, as a number of senior industry executives have recently warned about the potential negative impact this could have on stopover visitor levels.

Both George Markantonis, Atlantis’s top executive, and Mr Sands spoke to the negative consequences for the Bahamas’ largest private sector industry if this nation failed to get a grip on its mushrooming crime problem.

Mr Markantonis said: “We’re very concerned, I know everybody is concerned around the country. These aren’t the kinds of headlines that encourage visitation. I just hope we can get it under control sooner or later.”

Mr Sands, in a recent interview, urged the Government to “redouble” its efforts to combat crime, as this was vital to “maximising” investment and Bahamian job opportunities in the sector.

On crime, he added: “This something we have to get under control. The quicker we get it under control, the better for the Bahamas. The sector stands ready, willing and able to help the Government address this pressing issue of crime.”

The Canadian travel warning, coming on top of the earlier US advisory, could not have come at a worse time for the Bahamian tourism and hotel industry.

The $3.5 billion Baha Mar project’s Grand Opening, while pushed back to late Spring, remains on the horizon, and the Bahamas needs to both attract increased stopover visitors and an extra 400,000 airline seats per annum to fill this property.

Crime warnings undermine achieving such an objective, and indicate the Bahamas has more than just energy and fiscal crises to solve.

Mr Sands yesterday told Tribune Business that the upgraded Canadian travel warning merely “reinforces” the industry’s fears and the “concerns expressed to the Government”.

Reiterating that resolving the crime problem was critical to the “sustainable growth of tourism going forward”, Mr Sands pointed to Canada’s importance as not just a source of stopover visitors, but foreign direct investment (FDI) and second home owners.

Apart from the Memories Resort in Grand Bahama, there is also Canadian ownership in the British Colonial Hilton and South Ocean resorts on New Providence. That country’s financial institutions also have a substantial presence in the Bahamas’ domestic and international financial services industries.

“The Canadian market is extremely important to the Bahamas,” Mr Sands told Tribune Business. “They’ve also been a strong tourism partner for the Bahamas for many years.

“They also play an important role in the development of our country, and are a strong partner in the tourism, banking and financial sectors, and the second home market. Canada is a very important and long-term partner for the Bahamas.”

Mr Sands added that Canada also served as an important tourism ‘connecting country’ for the Bahamas, and was home to a large high net worth individual population. Its sizeable ethnic groups, such as Asians, also provided business for the hotel casino industry.

Data produced by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) shows that for the five months to end-May 2014, Canada was the Bahamas’ fastest growing visitor source market, its 75,552 tourists representing a 17.3 per cent year-over-year increase.

Much of that increase is likely to have been driven by the Memories Resort’s opening in Grand Bahama, with 2013 full-year Canadian visitor numbers standing at 123,691.

“Guest and employee safety are top priorities for Baha Mar, as they are for the Bahamas,” Mr Sands said.

“Baha Mar has committed to creating thousands of quality jobs and careers for Bahamians, which is one of the long-term solutions that will help our community and our industry by raising families’ standards of living and reducing unemployment.”

Stuart Bowe, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, said: “The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association, and its members, take seriously the importance of ensuring the safety of our visitors and residents.

“While no crime is acceptable, the overwhelming majority of incidents which do occur in the Bahamas are well outside the immediate resort areas and tourism zones.

“While we wish that there were no incidents to report, it is a fact that travellers throughout the world, particularly those visiting metropolitan areas or areas with a high concentration of people, take precautions to safeguard themselves.”

Mr Bowe added: “Bahamians are known for being a very peace-loving and hospitable people. The BHTA and its member hotels work with the Police and the Ministry of Tourism to ensure the safety of visitors and residents, and are committed to continuing these efforts.”