• Tourism chief urges: ‘Correct any bottlenecks’

• Visa demand overload ‘good problem to have’

• Says summer ‘as strong’ as past winter peaks

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas must “pull out all the stops” to prevent travel visa woes undermining tourism’s recovery, a top hotelier urged yesterday, especially as summer “could be stronger” than typical winter peaks.

Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business this nation needs to urgently “correct any bottlenecks” that may unnecessarily deter travellers from visiting the destination as the vaccination roll-outs in its key source markets continue to stoke pent-up demand.

Speaking after Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, revealed to this newspaper that The Bahamas’ health travel visa website is being overwhelmed by a surge in fully vaccinated persons booking vacations several months in advance, Mr Sands acknowledged that in one sense “it’s a good problem to have” as it signals demand for the country’s largest industry is swiftly returning.

Yet he warned that  health travel visa difficulties could “negate” the “week over week growth” all tourism industry sectors are currently enjoying, especially since present numbers indicate The Bahamas is on pace for a summer season that is potentially “stronger or as strong” as the typical peak winter season experienced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“We’re very well aware and appreciative of the increase in demand for The Bahamas by vaccinated visitors and the challenges that accompany this,” Mr Sands said. “It’s a good problem on one end to have, but we have to anticipate demand will continue to increase and we have to work together, efficiently and effectively, to manage the system to deal with the continued uptick in business growth.

“There are a number of things contributing to it. A number of vaccinated individuals are booking in advance for future trips, and the cruise line home porting may also be contributing to this particular influx. Then there is the pent-up demand, and people are recognising that The Bahamas is doing the right thing as a destination of choice and confidence is being restored.

“This is contributing to a system that is being overloaded. I think everybody is conscious of pulling out all the stops necessary for the smooth operation of this, so it does not negate demand or slow down the pace of the tourism recovery.”

While “difficult to put a percentage on it”, Mr Sands added that “week over week, all sectors are seeing growth” in the booking pace and volume of business, and it was vital that The Bahamas did not allow health travel visa approval delays to deter potential visitors and drive them to rival destinations such as Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

“I think we must be positive and ensure the issues are in fact resolved,” he told Tribune Business. “Business is increasing, the volume is increasing, and we need to put in a process that addresses the increase in demand.

“Rather than trying to [Monday morning] quarterback it at this point in time, we must be forward looking. We are encouraged by the level of business that we’re getting. Let us correct bottlenecks that exist, remove unnecessary impediments to travel, make what manpower and technology changes are required, be innovative and let’s move forward.

“In the hospitality business, over-demand is a very good thing, and to me these are encouraging signs. We are trained to work through these welcome difficulties, and will resolve the problems sooner rather than later. It’s a good problem to have.”

While not providing figures, Mr Sands said the increased demand produced by US vaccinations and elimination of border COVID-19 PCR test requirements for fully inoculated travellers was opening up the possibility for The Bahamas to enjoy a 2021 summer that resembled pre-COVID winter peaks.

“We’re coming off what in the past would have been our strongest season, which is the winter season, but we’re seeing a summer season that could be stronger or as strong based on the numbers. As we continue to grow our numbers over the coming months, that augurs well for where we may find ourselves at the end of this year and in the first quarter next year.”

Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, told Tribune Business his boat and yachting clients have yet to encounter any difficulties with obtaining The Bahamas’ health travel visa.

Revealing that many boat owners were requiring their crews to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Mr Maury said: “We’ve not had any trouble with the travel visa yet. I hope we don’t, but there’s a lot of screening involved. I haven’t seen any hold-ups yet. It’s OK for now. Let’s hope we keep rocking and rolling.”

Mr Maury said he had predicted that demand for Bahamas vacations would surge in line with the US vaccination roll-out. He added that recent visits to Florida for boat shows revealed that the state was “overloaded” with mega yachts, while restaurants were full to capacity, creating an opportunity to lure “people that are vaccinated and want a more serene vacation in The Bahamas”.

Mr D’Aguilar on Tuesday revealed that it is “all hands on deck” to prevent “a surge” in visitor demand from “overwhelming” the Bahamas’ health travel visa website and deterring potential tourists.

The website, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has effectively become the hub around which the entire Bahamian tourism industry functions because it controls visitor access to The Bahamas via the health travel visa approvals it grants.

Mr D’Aguilar said the website had to be “tweaked” after daily applications more than doubled to hit 5,000 following The Bahamas’ decision to eliminate border COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated travellers.

Disclosing that this relaxation has effectively extended the vacation booking window, he explained that fully vaccinated travellers are seeking to obtain their approved health visa now for visits during the July to October period.

This contrasts sharply with the previous regime, as the requirement for all visitors to obtain a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within five days of arriving in The Bahamas significantly narrowed the booking window to a matter of days.

Mr D’Aguilar said this switch, coupled with the demand increase, meant the government has had to “limit applications to within 14 days’ of travel” so that the system can better “digest” and process all the submissions it is receiving.

The health travel visa website’s issues were badly timed from the Government’s perspective given that they coincided with the full launch of a “one-stop shop” online portal designed to ultimately give Bahamians electronic access to more than 200 public services digitally.

This event will likely further increase scepticism among some as to whether the mygateway.gov.bs portal will be executed and function efficiently, and match what the Government is promising, while information technology (IT) issues have also impacted The Bahamas’ own COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.

Ed Fields, deputy chair of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee, confirmed on Tuesday that the migration of data from Doctors Hospital’s IT platform to the one being used by the committee had resulted in some 1,000 persons who had received their first jab not being transferred over.

This has prevented those impacted from getting their second dose and becoming fully vaccinated, but Mr Fields downplayed this by saying the number “is now dwindled down significantly. We’ll have to work until all the data is transferred and that really is where the hitch is”.

However, one of those affected, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the issue as “a monumental cock-up” and alleged that several prominent members of Bahamian society have also been affected although Tribune Business could not confirm this before press time.

“About 1,000 people have been lost in cyber space,” the source said. “When you migrate from one system to another, with something as sensitive as this, I don’t understand why they didn’t run the two platforms side by side. It’s a hell of an inconvenience. You’re messing with people’s lives. It’s a huge problem.”

The source said they began inquiries when they failed to receive the e-mail notifying them they were due for a second COVID-19 vaccine shot. After the vaccination website refused to make an appointment, they added that they visited one of the vaccination sites where they were informed of what had happened.