One of the main reasons the economy is so bad is because we have so few visitors. With all the difficult entry rules and the hassles to obtain a Health Visa people are travelling elsewhere where it is far easier to enter. There have been many complaints but the Tourism Minister refuses to ease up on the harsh rules. Soon we will not have an economy .

I thoroughly agree with the letter writer. We must change quickly or we will never recover. The amount of red tape involved in coming to The Bahamas is killing our tourist trade. People can travel elsewhere in the Caribbean area with far fewer requirements. The Health Visa should be scrapped immediately. It has caused so much uncertainty for no one knows whether they will receive permission to travel in time for their flight (s). Who wants to pay high fees for a Covid19 PCR test, wait two to three days for results, complete all the Health Visa forms, scan them to Nassau and not be certain for the timing of permission to travel? Coordinating all this with the lack of flights is a nightmare. Who has dreamed up all these rules?? Our Bahamas is in real trouble now with so few visitors. Our people need work.

I completely agree with the letter writer. We are in a serious situation . We must revive our tourist sector as soon as possible. How can we ever really recover if we are setting rules which prevent even willing repeat visitors from coming? Can you imagine cruise passengers wanting to complete all the hassles to enter let alone those who arrive by air? The Minister and staff of the Tourism Ministry need a dose of reality very soon. It will be a very long time before people in our main travel markets receive both Covid19 shots and become even eligible to be admitted here under the latest rules. There are far too many other countries to visit who want business and are not turning people away like we are in The Bahamas. We are fast losing our status as the prime destination of choice. People simply do not have the time or will to complete all the onerous requirements so they are choosing to go elsewhere .We should be very concerned at this disturbing state of affairs.

Seeing will be believing whether tourist numbers will increase. Most of the population of Canada, the U.S.A. and the U.K. have not had their first vaccine yet alone the second which will be required soon to enter The Bahamas. What incentive is there for tourists to return here too quickly? The hassles required for the Health Visa continue and sadly many prospective visitors are going to other southern destinations which are easier to enter.

The Tourism Minister has announced revised entry rules. However the bureaucratic Health Visa remains. . This has been a deterrent to travel. No word on whether the five day rule remains,.People find it difficult to make definite bookings because of all the uncertainties when permission will be forthcoming. Why book air tickets and accommodation if the Health Visa permission does not come in time? It is chaotic. All the nuisance of uploading and sending documents and no certainty of travel times. Drop the Health Visa. If air passengers cannot present a suitable vaccination certificate when checking in for their flight they are not given the boarding pass. We should be making it easy to visit The Bahamas not difficult. There are too many other destinations which offer much the same as we offer but are far easier to enter. The Minister needs a dose of reality soon.

This letter is well written by a good friend of The Bahamas. I thoroughly agree with everything that he has said. It is now time for the quiet union and business community to speak up about the harsh rules. We need our economy to recover. If the Government continues with all the current requirements our tourism industry is doomed.. Unlike fifty years ago there are far more destinations in our region for vacations with far easier entry requirements. The idea now being proposed of visitors having to have both vaccines plus 15 days before entering will slow things down as well..A great many people in Canada, the U.S.A. and the U.K. have not even had the first vaccine. Most people have to wait at least three months for the second vaccine. Do we want tourists or not? We have to be more realistic .Airlines will not resume flights to Nassau if there is little or no demand. So where will the visitors come from ?

Canadians could not comply with the harsh entry rules. Most could not find places to get a Covid19 PCR test. All health care is under provincial governments. Healthy people trying to get such tests for travel is a very low priority. Then they had to wait at least two days for test results. Then they had to scan all the forms for the Health Visa and not be sure when permission would be forthcoming. All these hassles had to be coordinated with flights which were down from daily from Toronto to once weekly. Most people also just could not be bothered. When flights did operate for a few months there were very few passengers. Canadian travel agents apparently have given up on The Bahamas as it is just too hard to gain entry. Agents were sending customers elsewhere.Now for the past few months all flights are cancelled. All Canadians who do travel must on their return quarantine at a hotel with a $1400 charge for three nights and also have tests for their return as well. So why be bothered going to Nassau. Our harsh rules when flights operated destroyed the reliable Canadian market and it is highly unlikely it will return anytime soon . Whoever designed these unworkable rules never thought whether visitors would go through all the hassles just to visit The Bahamas. They haven't !.

The failed policies on tourism entry have caused a 95% drop in visitor arrivals. Despite all the complaints from travel agents, winter residents and Bahamians stranded abroad the Tourism Minister stubbornly refused to ease his harsh entry requirements. Most visitors were not able or willing to undertake all the hassles required to travel here. The imposition of a five day from test entry rule coupled with the Health Visa have been a complete failure. Why visitors could not simply have brought a Covid19 test with them up to even 7 days old should have been implemented to save what tourism we could have had. Now so many flights are cancelled and interest in our Bahamas has plummeted. If new requirements are not easy and sensible the Minister 's rosy predictions for revival which he has continually talked about for months will not happen. Meanwhile his policies have helped to cause mass unemployment and the potential destruction of our major economic interest. Lost in all of this has been any common sense.

There is an ongoing conflict between health professionals and financial professionals about tourism entry requirements. Due to the harsh rules our visitors have dropped 95% and our major economic activity has collapsed. We cannot continue for much longer on this path. The way things are now even visitors who want to come mostly cannot fulfill the requirements within five dsys. There are too many hassles and people who are travelling are going elsewhere. If we had only allowed visitors and returning residents to bring a Covid19 test result with them and had not imposed the Health Visa and five day arrival from test we would have had far more visitors and our economy would not have suffered so much. Keeping people away resulting in mass unemployment is not the answer.

What the Union leadership should have been worried about months ago was the imposition by the Government of such harsh unworkable entry requirements that a lot of tourism was lost to The Bahamas when there were months where tourism was feasible. Numerous letters of concern were published in The Tribune from travel agents, winter residents and Bahamians that they could not fulfill the rules in the short five day period from test to arrival. The Minister of Tourism stubbornly refused to make any changes. The Health Visa requirement has turned away large numbers of prospective visitors. Now we see the result. We are 95% down in tourist arrivals and mass unemployment has happened. Where did the Union leaders think visitors would come from under the circumstances? None of them said anything. Our economy has been severely affected by these ongoing policies.