Vacation rental homes simply don't compete for the same customer, so putting them in the same box is simply wrong. As a home rental provider I have to compete on value against many other beautiful location throughout the Caribbean. If my prices are to increase by 12% due to VAT, I will lose a significant number of repeat visitors, and new bookings. My only choice will be to take the hit on the tax, and therefore reduce my margin, which in a time when everything in the Bahamas is costing ever more, doesn't sound like the way forward!

I work very hard to ensure that my guests not only enjoy their stay in my home, but that they have a wonderful experience while on island, and so spread the word to their friends and family.

The few thousand dollars a year that I earn helps me survive, and is important to my total annual income. Most importantly, everything I earn stays in the Bahamas, and is almost exclusively spent on island with other local businesses.

Governments throughout the world see the middle class as a cash cow. We pay our dues, we put little if any demands on the state, and we abide by the law (even if we don't agree with all of them).

The large corporations (hotels, resorts, cruise lines, etc.) are offered such incredible incentives to come and do business in the Bahamas, and they give so little in real benefit back to the nation. Any profit they make is taken out of the country.

I would guess that one couple vacationing in a vacation home on a family island for a week would benefit this country financially by 30 times more than a couple on a day trip to Nassau on a cruise ship.

Governments of the Bahamas seem only to impressed by numbers. Big building projects. Big cruise ship lines. We are a small nation, and it’s about time our leaders recognised this. The Bahamas future should be based on quality and not quantity. My customers seek value and that’s what we need to offer all of our visitors now, and in the future.

It's their ocean that we swim in, and they keep the whole eco system in balance being that they are the top predators. Spear fisherman know that when they catch a fish they must get it out of the water and onto their boat as quickly as possible, as the distressed actions of the fish, and any blood will attract sharks in the area that they are diving in. Sharks don't have hands to feel things, so they have to use their mouths, which just happen to have a lot of very sharp teeth. If that shark had intended to harm this American tourist his injuries would have been far more severe (and reef sharks are not normally aggressive). World wide every year approximately 5 people are killed by sharks. Man kills well in excess of one hundred million sharks. The ocean, and the Bahamas need our sharks. Please just admire their beauty and grace, and let them quietly live their lives in peace.

Well put JB

A well written, well informed article that hits the nail on the head. Our tourism industry should focus on quality and not quantity! The same could also be said of the all inclusive resorts that each government seems so keen promote in this country. From my experience here in Exuma, very few Sandals guests ever leave the resort, so once again their tourist dollars are not spent among the many business our island has to offer. The independent traveller is truly the most valuable to this nation. They are the ones who spend money in local businesses and tell all their friends of how wonderful their vacation was and convince them to come experience the beauty of our island nation, and the warmth of our people.

I also would like to be able to download a list of the items that are now VAT free. Here in Exuma it appears to me that everything in store has simply gone up since the 1st July!

Well said Bruce. Sadly our country is bogged down by protectionism and lethargy. The second home owners (however small), bring inward investment, spend money in our daily economy, and bring new people (friends and renters) to spend their money in our island nation. Any money made though rental of their home usually stays in the community, supporting local jobs and services. These rentals do not compete against our hotels, as the people who choose to stay in private rentals want something different (to have more privacy, be able to cook in on the odd evening, and to not be restricted to where they dine and drink). Most importantly, they are the people who go out into our communities and mix with local people, and spend their money with small independent restaurants and bars. We have to face the facts that the Bahamas is already frighteningly expensive, and the service standard three stars at best, which results in not very good value for money for our visitors. They come, and many keep coming back because of their love of our beautiful country and the people that they have met and shared wonderful times with. However everyone has a limit to how much financial pain/abuse they will tolerate before they have had enough. That maybe they then choose to holiday in another better value country, or worse still if they are a small second homeowner, they sell up (depressing the struggling bottom end of the property market) and take their investment either to their home country, or a competing island nation. On Exuma I believe our continued growing economy (I believe the fastest in our country), is not down to hotel based tourism (as no new hotels have been opened here in many years), but to the inward investment by second home owners, the services and support that hey require from local suppliers and trades people, and the cash they inject into our economy from their regular visits, their friends and their renting guests.