Tuesday, August 3, 2021
EDITOR, The Tribune.
As a long-time travel agency owner in cities in northern New Jersey I am writing because I am alarmed at the steep decline in interest for vacations in The Bahamas. For many years both Nassau and some of the out islands were very popular destinations for our clients. They were easy to book and good airline connections.
We have had a challenging past year for tourism but the greatest impediment for booking to The Bahamas is the Health Visa. I follow The Tribune as a frequent visitor and can completely agree with others who have written from the travel industry with the same conclusions. Until your Government abolishes what so many consider a senseless Visa we cannot get clients to book to you. They do not have the will nor the time to go through all the requirements for the Visa. The uncertainty created by this layer of bureaucracy and the expense are additional roadblocks.
Why would your Tourism Minister and staff think that people would be willing to go through all the hassles when the other southern destinations are far easier to gain entry? When we explain your entry rules everyone declines. We are sending clients everywhere but The Bahamas. The policy is a complete failure. Clients cannot understand why they cannot show a double vaccination verification certificate and be given a boarding pass at the departing airport.
From your news items it seems that the Visa is more a tax for government revenue than necessary for health reasons.
Your Government has to get rid of the Visa immediately. We are already booking clients for winter vacations and so far in my agencies we have no bookings at all for your beautiful country. How can your economy sustain such a sharp decline in tourism when so much of the working population is employed in tourism? It is a disastrous situation.
JOHN W ROBSON
New Jersey.
USA
July 31, 2021.
Comments
thephoenix562 says...
Have you tried to go to Canada or the Uk lately from the US ?Health visa is the least of your worries.
Posted 3 August 2021, 8:22 p.m. Suggest removal
ohdrap4 says...
Plus he is barking up the wrong tree.
Not even stray dogs follow us.
Posted 3 August 2021, 8:51 p.m. Suggest removal
Alan1 says...
Here is yet another letter of concern from a travel agent who has been booking clients for years to The Bahamas. We should be listening to these people who send us visitors. We are so
accustomed to having large numbers of visitors every year that we think that this will continue now that tourism is opening up after the worst of Covid19. However the Health Visa is so cumbersome that prospective visitors cannot be bothered going through all the hassles and expense to obtain the Visa so they are going to other destinations which are easier to gain entry.. The Tourism Ministry always say they work with "travel partners "..It does not look like much consultation was done before our Tourism Minister introduced this disastrous Visa. Will the Government abolish it when they and the operators who take the Visa payments are all making money? Will our common good come before selfish motives? As the writer says - we are in a disastrous situation - and the outlook looks pretty grim as long as we make it as difficult as possible for tourists to vacation here.
Posted 3 August 2021, 10:22 p.m. Suggest removal
ColumbusPillow says...
The Canada Ministry of Health has certified that anybody who has received 2 doses of authorized vaccine (including ASTROZENICA) is deemed to be FULLY IMMUNIZED.
Why is this not sufficient for the Bahamas Ministry of Health?
Please stop trying to kill Bahamas tourism!
Posted 4 August 2021, 9:21 a.m. Suggest removal
carltonr61 says...
The Health Visa money is future grandchildren money in the bank. The rock dollar vehicle was created by insider knowledge bid. The king black crabs now has a permanent foothold on millions of tourists. Do you think they care if 3/4 of tourists are turned away then half the Bahamas starve? As long as they can greese the 1/4 that come fifty dollars a head they really don't give a $hit.
Posted 4 August 2021, 12:13 p.m. Suggest removal
realityisnotPC says...
OMG I am so tired of these disingenuous letters from purported travel agents and the incredible hypocrisy. Canada won't let you in at all; US only gives you 3 days to get your test done. The Bahamas Travel Visa is not this huge, long-winded, complicated thing. I have travelled into The Bahamas from the UK and Europe 3 times now during covid, and each time the visa was approved within less than 30 minutes.
"All the requirements of the visa"...LOL. Does this guy have the slightest clue how many hoops the US government makes you jump through to get a visa to visit the USA?
Well maybe everyone is declining to use this guy's rinky-dink travel agency, but most people in the world do their bookings directly with hotels and airlines these days if they have even the slightest level of internet literacy...and that is so many people that all the flights are full and the big hotels are reporting higher bookings than pre-covid. Don't know where this disaster is that this guy is talking about.
Posted 10 August 2021, 5:13 p.m. Suggest removal
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