By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian tourism executives yesterday revealed they plan to “capitalise” on anti-Trump sentiment to attract more visitors from Canada and non-US markets as the industry “pushes close” to 2024 business volumes.

Joy Jibrilu, the Nassau and Paradise Island Promotion Board’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that the major drop-off in US bookings by visitors from Canada, Europe and Latin America “creates an opportunity” for The Bahamas to position itself as an alternative warm weather tourism destination located in close proximity to Florida.

Speaking after further chaos involving the US president’s long-threatened tariff and trade wars, with both Mr Trump and Canada yesterday pulling back from the brink of escalating retaliatory measures, she also conceded that The Bahamas has to be “realistic” about how the policy changes in Washington D.C. will impact consumer confidence in its largest visitor market and, subsequently, travel demand and spending.

However, both Mrs Jibrilu and Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s senior vice-president of government and external affairs, told this newspaper that the fall-out from mass US federal government lay-offs and Mr Trump’s tariff and trade wars has yet to show in Bahamian hotel and tourism bookings for the upcoming Easter holiday and peak winter tourism season.

However, Mr Sands said “challenges” remain for both hotel room rates and occupancies as both Baha Mar and the wider resort industry inch closer to matching 2024’s holiday season numbers. He voiced optimism that “no headwinds derail” the Easter performance for The Bahamas’ largest, and most economically important, industry

“Prevailing uncertainty is right,” Mrs Jibrilu said of the present global economic environment, “but one of the things it creates is opportunity. The rest of the world’s [tourism] bookings to the US have dropped drastically; Canada’s by 33 percent, and Europe and Latin America.

“So they’re looking for other places to go, and that provides the opportunity for us. What I’m trying to capitalise on, in as diplomatic a way as possible, is how do we attract Canadians and others looking for warm weather destinations.”

Noting that Florida is the US state that has been most impact, the Nassau and Paradise Island Promotion Board chief said the Canadian “winter birds” that typically vacation there are not doing so in the aftermath of the animosity stirred by Mr Trump’s trade policies towards that nation and provocative suggestions that it become the 51st US state.

“Naturally they will want somewhere else to go, so we’re really well-positioned to do better,” Mrs Jibrilu told Tribune Business. “That’s the focus.” Asked whether the recent US stock market slump, as well as fears of a global recession, have impacted Bahamian tourism bookings by dampening American consumer confidence, she replied: “For the moment, nothing.

“With the US, we have to be realistic. It’s a lot of people that have been laid-off, federal government employees, middle class people who travel, but we’re not seeing any impact yet. It’s too early to tell.” This was echoed by Mr Sands who, when asked if there had been any impact on Easter and peak winter tourism season bookings, replied: “Absolutely none.”

He added: “There’s nothing that tells us that’s the case. Nothing at the moment. I think it’s fair to say that bookings remain strong. There’s still certain challenges in terms of yields and also occupancy levels. I think we’re pushing close to what we were doing last year. It’s just wait and see, but hopefully there’s no headwinds that derail what is happening in terms of business levels at this point in time.”

The senior Baha Mar executive conceded that the slight decrease in stopover visitors recorded for 2024 was a concern for the Bahamian resort industry given that they represent the majority of its customer base. “I think the Government articulated that stopover visitors this [last] year contracted by a small amount,” Mr Sands said. “There was no real growth in stopover visitors.

“We hope that changes this particular year because stopover visitors directly impact hotel occupancies. We are fortunate this year that Easter is late and we have an extended Easter season, which is traditionally strong. The difficulty for The Bahamas is after Easter and beyond.

“We have to stay focused, offer good value for money, be customer driven and hopefully that translates into increased business for us and, also, that customers recommend The Bahamas to their friends to generate extra sales.”

Yesterday saw Mr Trump sow further chaos and confusion as he briefly escalated the trade and tariff row with Canada, the US’ northern neighbour and one of its largest trading partners. The US president briefly doubled tariffs on imported Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent in retaliation for the province of Ontario imposing a 25 percent surcharge on electricity sales to several US states.

That further steel and aluminum hike, which would have gone into effect today, as well as the electricity surcharge were later averted after both sides backed down after both sides agreed to talk and try and resolve their differences. However, 25 percent tariffs on all imported steel - including that from Canada and Mexico - are due to take effect from today.

Rupert Pinder, assistant professor of economics at the University of The Bahamas (UoB), told Tribune Business there is no way for this country - as a small, import-dependent nation that is extremely vulnerable to external shocks - to escape the uncertainty and disruption caused by Mr Trump’s policies.

“There’s nothing more that businesses hate than uncertainty,” he said. “The long and short of it all is that we’re going to see inflationary pressures. The Bahamas is such a small market that we cannot influence international pricing. It’s not as if we have another large country that can support The Bahamas. We are a small country. We have no influence on international prices.”

Mr Pinder added that even if The Bahamas turns to alternative product, materials and supply sources in other jurisdictions, these goods could still contain components caught by US tariffs and incur higher costs. “Everything is so inter-connected that we’re going to feel the inflationary effects,” he said.