"*cited tourism analytics data indicating The Bahamas was the only Caribbean nation experiencing a decline in stopover visitors during the early months of 2024, despite rising overall arrivals driven by cruise tourism.*"

We've known this for years. Obie Wilchconbe was the last tourism exec that I recall who attempted to deny the negative trend in stopover visitor as Pamela Musgrove tried to explain to him the warnings signs.

While tourism execs were painting a rosy picture of the tariffs being an opportunity for us, last week I posted the following and had earlier pointed out the last time I heard a tourism exec speak about benefiting from a global downturn was during COVId. Imagine someone proposing that we could capitalize on a pandemic by having more people travel here. My comment last week:

*Anyway you put it, higher prices due to tariff related equipment cost increase or less people traveling it does not result in a rosy tourism "we can benefit from misery of others" PR story. The one piece of good news is Trumps position appears to be softening, it may mean the "might" wont materialize*

Your comments are typically taken from a vocabulary of 20 words. So I doubt you read... but anyway..

"*five senior Bahamian staff members have been terminated over the past 18 months, and four in the past year, including a former Bahamian chief executive, finance manager, senior compliance manager, human resources chief and senior finance analyst.*"

**This is highly unusual. If five people had left the firm because they found the environment unpalatable for whatever reason, ok. What's described here isnt that and very odd**. To fire five people in senior positions? With these persons having experience in offshore/onshore banking sector? That's very odd

Will heads roll?

Everytime we crow about the great job we're doing to achieve these fantastic numbers, the universe reminds us "this is not of your doing". Forces much bigger than you control the flow. We would be nothing without location. Something no man can claim credit for.

"*Clearly, what we have been doing has not been working*"

And weirdly enough, every minister comes in and crows about the cruise ships, of late adopting the really strange strategy of giving them their own private enclaves to further reduce the impact.

Apparently in the Bahamas fire hydrants for "pretty", not for feeding water to fire trucks. This is truly bizarro world.

"*Howard Thompson, the Department of Labour director, in a statement to Tribune Business said his visit and investigation at Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) Great Stirrup Cay had revealed there are “two sides to the story*"

Of course and as expected. There is no *head rolling* law for the tourism gods

"*I have not had a report from them yet that they have lacked equipment to contend with any of the blazes that they have encountered thus far,” Mr Munroe*"

Just the type of crisis leadership we need. I waiting.

"*Latrae Rahming, director of communications at the Office of the Prime Minister, said yesterday the government is acquiring 15 to 20 fire trucks, with some earmarked for Family Islands*"

I waited to hear the response across multiple concerns, but have not heard anyone speak to this issue using a scientific approach, because this is science. Wayne Munroe confirmed it, he said "*they havent asked for anything*". So I looked it up. I found a comment referencing a 2003 ISO standard, that's **2003**, ISO is a body whose work is documenting best practice standards, typically across the sciences. According to the comment, response time to a fire should be under 5mins. There should be one fire truck for every 5-10sq miles, i.e., Nassau alone needs 14 fire trucks. There should be one fire station for every 10,000 people, i.e., Nassau alone needs 14 fire stations. There should be 2.5 firefighters for every 10,000 people, i.e., Nassau alone needs 250 firefighters.

We can look at that and say it's too much. Well then, let it burn out east while we address the fire out west. Precisely what happened to the residents of Victoria Court.

The fire chief said his team did an excellent job. That statement needs some context. They did an excellent job "*with the resources they had*". The results were not excellent and could have been better with a faster response time meaning adequate trucks and more fire fighters. It's not their fault. Leadership failed them.

We suffer for lack of knowledge and our love for beautiful photo ops with profilers.

"*we walked Bay Street, and it's still bustling. We see the cruise ship passengers. It's vibrant. The tours are ongoing, as was expected.”*

This is so tone deaf. The "visitors" havent been affected? They likely cant tell the difference between the damaged structures and the buildings still standing. Hopefully she expressed some concern for the 29 families whose lives have been turned upside down

Nothing will roll. I recall the director of labour biting his tongue to explain how the Hilton was nearing completion with almost 100% Chinese labour.

Thou shalt not touch the tourism investor.

"*They have the equivalent of 12 police cars, boats to patrol an area the size of California*"

ROTFL... not true... but not far off. Lol.