By Annelia Nixon

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Exuma taxi operators yesterday blamed an influx of rental vehicles and Sandals Emerald Bays continued closure for what is shaping up to be a slow Thanksgiving.

Asserting that Exuma has seen an influx of rental vehicles since the Road Traffic Department issued numerous self-drive public service licence plates under the Minnis administration, Robin Thompson said he hopes the demand for taxis increases closer to Thanksgiving and the start of the peak winter tourism season.

He added that business for cab drivers in Exuma has been “extremely slow”, attributing it to the rise in rental vehicles and asserting that 95 percent of visitors choose rental vehicles over taxi rides.

“I mean, truthfully, it is slow for the taxi drivers - extremely slow,” Mr Thompson said. “We have a flooded market with rental cars. The option for most of the guests that come is that they rent cars. Taxi drivers, at this point, get one or two jobs in a nine to ten-hour day.

“I haven't been coming out here because of how slow it was, but I started to because it's Thanksgiving month. We have two flights, four days out of the week, from American Eagle, and one or the other three days. And 95 percent of those guests, they go to rental cars. So we don't make no money like that.

“I know Thanksgiving season has just started. The expectation is that you would not see a greater degree of visitor arrivals until right at Thanksgiving. Hopefully that brings a different flavour to the island. And then, one time ago, we used to have it where once we see the rental car place, the yards are clean, then the guests would resort to using taxis. But the rental car companies have cars in reserve. In other words, they have so much vehicles that their yards are never completely empty.” 

With the closing of Sandals Emerald Bay, Mr Thompson added that unlike New Providence, Exuma no longer has major hotels to attract more tourists and, as a result, increase the demand for taxi cabs. He did, however, note that Hideaways at Palm Bay Resort and the Grand Isle Resort sometimes contract taxi drivers. He said this year they have experienced the real impact due to the loss of Sandals.  

“In Nassau they have hotels, and cab companies can have contractual arrangements. We here, we don't have that option. We don't have a Sandals or what was a Four Seasons [resort]. We don't have that. We have only Grand Isle that gives their business to cab drivers. That’s the only hotel that gives their business to cab drivers, and sometimes Hideaways as well,” Mr Thompson said.

“[Last year], at that time, Sandals had just closed its doors in August. And so that was the adjustment period. So we didn't realise what blow we would have had due to the closure of Sandals. And so it took us until the end of last year, first part of this year, to realise how dramatic and impactful it would have been.

“So here we are, more than a year later, experiencing the full impact of not having a major resort on the island. With a major resort we would have had a fair chance of making a good salary. We would have had that. But without it, we don't. 

Mr Thompson said taxi operators are struggling to provide for their families but remain “hopeful” as they wait for communication regarding the future of the taxi industry in Exuma.

“There's no way you can feed a family with $40, sometimes $30, a day,” Mr Thompson said. “That’s what it amounts to.

“You got BEC bills. You got National Insurance. You got all these different things to pay, and kids in school. You got to fight. You got to stay out there and thicken your skin. If I make $20, $30, $40, I know a good portion of that goes to fuel, but I have to provide for my children who are in school. I got to do it.

“So whatever loss it is to me, they cannot be at a loss. I have to have some funds to put in their hands for school… We are still hopeful. We're still waiting on a word about when. We're still waiting on the ‘who's who’ to come and have a communication with the body of us - not just one or two of us taxi drivers - but with the body of us, so we can exactly what is in the forecast for us.”