By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Chester Cooper has defended the government’s reporting on tourism spending following concerns from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which warned The Bahamas may be overstating visitor expenditure.

Mr Cooper, the Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, said the government remains confident in its data while acknowledging ongoing efforts to modernise collection methods.

“I would need to have a greater dialogue with the IMF about what they perceive,” Mr Cooper said. “We are confident in the work that we are doing.”

The IMF flagged the country’s reliance on outdated surveys and assumptions in its latest Article IV report, cautioning that this could distort the balance of payments and potentially overstate tourism’s contribution to the economy. It projected that adjustments could shift Net Errors and Omissions in the national accounts to a negative $923m.

Mr Cooper said the government is upgrading its tools, including the rollout of a digital immigration landing card system. The new platform will send real-time departure surveys to visitors and incorporate updated spending questions.

“It is going to send them a survey,” he said. “This survey with new questions will cause there to be a more automated approach.”

“There is room for enhancing those questions,” he added. “The beauty of the work we are doing is that it is an evolution.”

Mr Cooper said the broader goal is not only to capture direct tourist spending but to account for wider economic effects.

“Economic benefit goes beyond the actual tourist spend,” he said. “It trickles through taxes, departure taxes, through VAT, through the Ministry of Finance doing a more effective job at collecting revenue in private destinations.”

The deputy prime minister also highlighted findings from a recent study into private cruise destinations, which revealed financial “leakages.” He said these were addressed through regulatory changes in the most recent budget.

“The government embarked upon an exercise to assess economic benefit and economic value of private destination cruising,” he said. “We were able to find some leakages, and as a result we were able to put in place some adjustments in regulations.”

Despite the IMF’s critique, Mr Cooper said the agency also praised The Bahamas for its tourism growth and overall economic performance.

“They have cited the great work that we are doing and the remarkable growth in the economy and in tourism,” he said. “Do we want more spending? Absolutely, yes.”

He added that reforms are ongoing and that future reports will reflect more accurate economic returns from the sector.

“This is a work we have started already over the past year,” he said. “And I believe once these reports are released, the public will be pleased with the overall economic growth that we are seeing as a result of the cruise business in The Bahamas.”