By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts said she is “not the least concerned” about the safety of Americans in The Bahamas despite the widespread attention given to a recent travel advisory.

She noted that the country’s travel advisory level did not change and remained at level two, meaning “exercise increase caution”.

“We have to remember that our audience is Americans who are coming to The Bahamas,” Ms Pitts said yesterday.

“We want to make sure that they are safe and so we have a responsibility to warn them to be careful when they need to be careful. So that’s all the travel advisory is and that was our intent, was to let them know what to be aware of.”

The advisory reported that “the majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands.”

“In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the ‘Over the Hill’ area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population.”

The advisory was widely reported in international media, including by the New York Times, which noted that many tourism-reliant countries have Level Two warnings “and most travellers experience safe and enjoyable vacations”.

Twenty-three people have been murdered for the year.