By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday hit out at the “troubling wave of dismissive and cynical comments” about new tourism projects and concerns that stopover visitors are declining.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, told the House of Assembly that visitor arrivals are “on the rise” contrary and stopover visitor growth is olny constrained by a lack of available hotel room inventory.

“Some of these critics are quick to dismiss every new development as unnecessary or unlikely to benefit Bahamians, and some even claim – wrongly – that our stopover visitors are in decline. This is simply not true,” said Mr Cooper.

“The truth is that visitor arrivals are on the rise, including stopover arrivals, and interest in The Bahamas as a world class destination remains stronger than ever. Whilst stopover growth is constrained by lack of room inventory, in 2023 it was the best year ever in the history of The Bahamas and 2024 is up over 2023.

“So, I wish that would-be responsible people would cease and desist from spreading this falsehood. To be blunt, some of these complaints are simply delusional. Every hotel, every new attraction and every visitor brings vital revenue to our country, creates jobs and allows countless Bahamians to support their families,” he added.

“We all have the right to discuss issues such as crime or economic growth, but there is a responsible way to do this. I call on those spreading misinformation and negativity to stop this nonsense and to consider the real harm they’re causing.”

During his contribution, Opposition Leader, Michael Pintard, said a recent Central Bank of the Bahamas report indicated that the economic growth for 2024 would come in below initial projections while indicators reflect slower tourism growth due to constrained stopover visitor capacity.

“The esteemed governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas updated the public on the trajectory of the Bahamian economy. He, too, agreed with the IMF assessment that economic growth for 2024 will be below the originally projected growth estimates,” said Mr Pintard.

“The Bahamian economy continued to expand in the first three quarters of 2024. However, the available indicators of growth slowed in comparison to 2023. The Governor went on to say the indicators reflect slower growth in tourism earnings due to the constrained capacity in the stopover visitor segment, and also moderation in the otherwise healthy cruise trends.

Mr Cooper then called for a point of order but Mr Pintard continued, accusing the deputy prime minister of being “overly sensitive”. He added: “He [Mr Cooper] continues to interrupt because he’s overly sensitive about the fact that an industry met on autopilot, he wishes to take credit for and it’s not working.”

Mr Cooper reiterated that stopover growth is constrained by the lack of room inventory and, as such, it has plateaued. “I said today that the growth of stopovers is constrained by the lack of inventory, and that is precisely what the governor of the Central Bank said,” said Mr Cooper.

“And he also confuses growth, speed and acceleration. I also indicated that the growth was better this year than it was last year and, for his edification, I said the growth of stopovers had plateaued as a result of lack of inventory. I want to thank him for quoting the honourable governor of the Central Bank who confirmed what I said before..”

Mr Pintard questioned if local businesses in the tourism sector, such as taxi drivers and straw vendors, are feeling the effects of the growth.

“Madam Speaker, I only appeal to you that the member has time to debate. So what he is doing is not clearing up some false information. What he is doing is seeking, in his usual arrogance, to lecture the Bahamian people because I clearly see through what he is doing,” said Mr Pintard.

“The beating of the chest about ten million [visitors]. People are now saying: Can we feel it? Can the taxi drivers feel it? Are the straw vendors feeling it? Are they feeling it in Grand Bahama, in the straw market?

“At the moment, the bottom line is the Bahamian people are not feeling it, and so all of his boasting, all of his bluster is not translating into the transformation of the lives of Bahamians, and we know that their polls are telling them that as well.”