By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian food stores have reported a 20 percent decline in sales to visiting boaters, a marina chief has revealed, while asserting: “Hopefully someone will show us some mercy this year.”

Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, cited the drop-off reported by the Retail Grocers Association (RGA) as an example of the rippling negative economic impact caused by the fall in boating, yachting and charter visitors due to a combination of increased taxation and cumbersome, bureaucratic entry procedures that are hard to understand and comply with.

He added that this week’s annual Bahamas Charter Yacht Show, which is scheduled to run from January 29 to February 2, has been impacted by the fall-out with the number of vessels on display forecast to be down by 37 percent year-over-year while there could be an up to 80-strong decline in visiting brokers - a reversal of the consistent annual growth seen in previous years;

Reiterating that the rest of the Caribbean is benefiting from the struggles now being endured by Bahamian marinas, Mr Maury also told this newspaper that marina occupancies in the southern Bahamas have fallen by as much as 60 percent while those for the central Bahamas - including New Providence - are off by an average 30 percent.

He added that some marinas, including larger ones, had been forced to discount rates and prices in a bid to attract business since the 2024 second quarter ended, and suggested: “I guess we have to get to rock bottom before anyone does anything.

“All the Family Islands were down considerably. They were very upset, I must say. It kind of sucks. We’ve been told by people in the industry and friends of ours that they are actually boycotting The Bahamas and the Charter Show because of the messed up rules and people just can’t deal with them.

“I had a meeting with the Ministry of Finance and I said: ‘OK, you do it to us I guess because we live here, we’re stuck, but our visitors don’t have to live with it. They can go somewhere else’,” Mr Maury added. “I guess they’re [the ministry] seeing the returns in fuel sales and VAT. They said: ‘What’s going on?”

“We said: ‘Exactly what we told you three years ago.’ The fact is the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands have increased 40 percent. Turks & Caicos has increased 83 percent, and we’ve gone down. The central Bahamas is down 30 percent and the southern Bahamas is down 60 percent.

“Even in the second quarter [last year] marinas were offering discounts. We got killed in the fourth quarter and had a big marina discussion this week. All the industry groups are suffering. That’s the problem.” Mr Maury said the Charter Yacht Show, which he described as “a good indicator” of the industry’s strength, is also likely to be smaller with the number of exhibiting boats falling from 62 last year to around 39.

“The 2025 season is not shaping up to be a great year,” he added. “Puerto Rico has opened a new marina group there and so did the Dominican Republic. Their fuel is down to $3 a gallon. Their groceries are cheaper, their fuel is cheaper. If something’s going to change I hope it changes soon because it’s looking worse.”

Mr Maury said reduced maritime traffic, especially foreign boats, yachts and related charters, does not solely hurt marinas with the impact being felt across the Bahamian economy by the likes of mechanics, cleaners and boat washers. “So many support businesses are suffering as a result,” he explained. “A lot of people don’t think about that. They think the boats come here loaded with goods but that’s not true.

“I’ve talked to the Retail Grocers Association and they say their top-end sales, typically yachts, have declined by 20 percent in volume. It’s been pretty consistent for the past two quarters. One of the local fuel companies sponsored the Bahamas Charter Yacht Show and they dropped out because of the lack of sales.

“We’re not going to see the [Show] response that we had hoped for. We were growing every year, but The Bahamas is not a preferred destination any more. We’ve missed out for a lot of people. After the first year the Show almost doubled. Then it grew probably 30 percent, then it was 20 percent, and now it’s gone negative 50 percent,” Mr Maury continued.

“A friend of money with a store in BVI recently said they couldn’t keep food on the shelves because the boats were coming in and buying it out. I talked to a Bahamian captain who closed his business here and went down to the Caribbean to make a living. There’s more than one story like that. I know that for a fact.

This is what it’s all about. It’s about the commerce they bring. They are the major injection into Family Island communities. Our Family Islands don’t see a lot of cruise ships and major resorts. When the yachts and Airbnbs come to town, that’s when they make their money.”

Mr Maury said the process of clearing into The Bahamas has now become far more complex than the previous requirements to obtain and pay for cruising permits and charter licences, as well as the 4 percent Port Department fee. Apart from the 10 percent VAT added to yacht charter fees, foreign yacht charters now have obtain a transiere, register for VAT, file the necessary VAT returns and obtain a VAT certificate.

Detailing the various requirements in a graph sent to Tribune Business, and which is published here, the ABM chief said the industry set up its SeaZPass portal to help facilitate entry clearance and pay the required taxes and fees to the Government until it was ordered to close it by the Ministry of Finance.

As for the long-promised government replacement, Mr Maury likened it to the Easter Bunny as something that was unlikely to happen despite repeated promises from various government agencies that it is soon to emerge.

The ABM has teamed with Omni Financial Group and its two affiliates to launch a “breach of contract” and defamation claim against the Government over the alleged “irreparable damage” suffered from Ministry of Finance assertions that fees collected from foreign boaters via the SeaZPass portal were not being paid to the Public Treasury as required.

Harvey Morris, director and principal shareholder of Omni and its affiliates, Transfer Solutions Providers and Omni FlashCash, said in a November 28, 2024, affidavit that the accounting firm hired to examine the fees collected by the payment provider on the Government’s behalf had confirmed no monies were missing and it had found “reconciling items” to explain the final $43,664 difference.

Pointing out that Omni’s own records showed it had collected $4.493m in gross foreign yacht charter and cruising permit fees during the portal’s near two-year existence, he argued that Deloitte & Touche’s findings effectively refuted previous assertions by Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, that sums ranging from $1m to as high as $5m had not been passed to the Government.

As for 2025’s prospects, Mr Maury said: “We’ll make the best of it and see what happens. Maybe someone will show us some mercy this year.”

Tribune Business calls and messages to John Pinder, the Ministry of Tourism’s parliamentary secretary, and under whose remit boating and aviation falls, seeking comment were not responded to before press time last night.