By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The deputy prime minister yesterday said the health travel visa will stay for international travellers as it is producing “data critical to the development and advancement of tourism”.

Chester Cooper, speaking before the weekly Cabinet meeting, confirmed that the newly-elected Davis administration will retain the health travel visa for international travel despite pledging to abolish it during the election campaign. It is being eliminated for inter-island travel, while the fees levied on unvaccinated Bahamians and residents returning home have also been ended.

Mr Cooper said: “We’ve made some changes to the travel visa process as you are aware. We’ve streamlined the process with inter-island travel. We are eliminating the fees on the international travel for Bahamians.

“At the moment, we are retaining the travel visa for international persons coming to The Bahamas. We are reviewing, and we are going to streamline the processes, as best as possible. The data being received on the international side is critical to the development and advancement of tourism. I anticipate that that will remain for some time.”

Mr Cooper is thus preserving what was left in place by his predecessor, Dionisio D’Aguilar. Although he did not specify the “data” he is referring to, it is likely the home addresses, contact details and other information provided by international travellers on where they are staying in The Bahamas, for how long and what they intend to do that allows the Ministry of Tourism to better target its marketing.

Meanwhile, Mr Cooper said the contract issued to Kanoo, the digital payments provider, to facilitate health travel visa payments is being “reviewed” but he declined to comment further. He added: “Our focus really is restoring tourism. Getting more tourists to come to our shores. We’ve been doing a lot of work internally; we’re optimistic about the next few months. So that’s our primary focus at the moment.”

But Faron Sawyer, president of Cherokee Air, told Tribune Business that the Government should “do away with the travel health visa altogether”.

Mr Sawyer added: “This is probably going to keep international travel slowed down a bit. I don’t know why they just don’t get rid of it as long as people have a negative test.”

Hailing the removal of the travel health visa for domestic travel, Mr Sawyer said that despite September being a slow month the move was a good thing.

“Usually around September it feels like somebody turns off a light-switch for some reason. September is always like nothing is happening, but I think I can say we are still a little more busy than we normally would be. I think the minister removing the health visa for Bahamians travelling was a good thing,” he added.

“If the Government needs the data then, yeah, I can understand that. But I still would like to see them get rid of that and just let people travel on a negative test. A lot of people are getting vaccinated now, so even with the vaccinated people they could get rid of the travel visa as a way to encourage more people to get vaccinated.”

“Other than that I think the new administration has made some good changes. I just hope they can keep up and don’t let it all go to their heads.”

Anthony Hamilton, Southern Air’s director of administration, said he does not see a problem with keeping the health travel visa for international travellers.

He added: “The rationale in terms of making a difference between the international traveller and the domestic traveller, given the consideration for financial revenue generation, I see no challenge with it.

“It helps in the domestic environment in that it’s not out of pocket for the domestic traveller, so that’s a relief and we still need to balance that in terms of revenue generation for the external patronage having to pay the fee. I have no challenge with that.”