By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

ANDROS is the "gateway" for Bahamians to truly define themselves and invest in the tourism industry, an industry executive yesterday arguing: "We have lost our way."

Peter Douglas, Andros's manager for sustainable tourism development, and a presenter at the island's Business Outlook conference, told Tribune Business: "We need, as Bahamian people, to come and invest in our tourism industry and stop looking for something else from someone else.

"We have to stop pretending that we are something that we are not. We need to define ourselves and invest in the tourism business with our culture, our entertainment, our music and food. We have the space to do it right here on Andros. Andros is the gateway for Bahamians to invest in the country."

Mr Douglas added: "We have lost our way. We can't have central government directing our way. We have to find our way as a people." He suggested that small boutique resorts were ideal investment opportunities for Bahamians in the tourism sector.

Mr Douglas also argued that foreign investors were seeing the value in Andros, with foreign-owned boutique fly fishing resorts likely to squeeze out Bahamian operators.

"The fly fishing industry is a multi-billion industry worldwide. It's worth more than $140 million throughout the country, and all of these boutique fishing resorts that have properties in Alaska and Iceland, for example, want to have properties on the best salt water flats in Andros. These people are trying to control the market," he said.