Let’s see. 300% increase in landing fees for private aircraft-some of the biggest spenders. Sky high duties. 10% vat. So, a trip to Abaco is $150 landing fee, $200 taxi fee to/from airport, $62 departure tax=$412. 2 burgers and 2 goombays with service charge and vat= $110. So, I am at $522 and haven’t paid for my $350 hotel room with about 50% taxes and fees=$525. So, I am over $1000 already. The officials have the mistaken thought that cruise visitors are great. They don’t even eat lunch on shore-they might have a drink. The Bahamas has reached a tipping point. Gouging stopover visits is killing them! Meanwhile, Florida Keys tourism is constantly growing and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg! You can only fleece the tourists for so long!

OMG. Another fake "buyer". So, let's see. He puts in a measly $5 million, and has a bunch of investors plunk down $500,000 each to the tune of $60 million. Then, we get a Cat 3 hurricane barreling through and the Greenpointe people say "ADIOS"!!. They would rather lose the $5 mil then have to go raise another 10 or 20 mil to try and resurrect. When Treasure Cay was owned in the old days by a reputable owner they had something to lose if things didn't go right. Now, whether Kovats or Greenpointe they are going to have minimum invested and just leave Treasure Cay whistling in the breeze if everything doesn't go right. In the meantime, the government has these dog and pony shows that are completely opaque about what is really happening. Gee, kind of like Grand Bahama Airport and Lucaya. The government told Kovats he had to put up a $25 million bond-he balked. What about Greenpointe? What's their bond?

God forbid the Bahamas takes control of the airspace from the FAA! And, the number of private pilots flying to the Bahamas has decreased with the 300% increase in fees. Killing the goose that lays the golden egg little by little by little!

Unfortunately, for all the poor souls in Abaco that continue to dream of a Treasure Cay comeback, this is taking place in US courts which means the government can’t waive a magic wand to make it go away. I doubt the developer wants to spend any money before this gets resolved.

You’re dreaming! Freeport was once a class act. Now it has gone to drugs. Why did the government ever spend the people’s money on a hurricane stricken hotel and then waste hundreds of millions on trying to keep it open? Now the transactions are non transparent. Another surprise! Really? Why wouldn’t they make them public so we, the constituents, can see what is happening? I think we all know the answer to that question!

The scariest part of this story is the Bahamas taking over air traffic control. This is a recipe for disaster! And, why not keep grinding away on the aviation business-the business that provides a lot of long stay, money spending guests. Already, the number of private flights coming to the Bahamas is down. Add in the horrendous duties and paying $30 for a hamburger, including tip and tax-and the Bahamas is pricing themselves out of business!

Looks like don’t have to worry about the pilot shortage.

Can’t wait for the new taxes, user fees, increases in water and electricity and of course the VAT increase. Tourism is down. 2 burgers, 2 punches with gratuity and Vat is now like $110. Is there any wonder why tourism, our backbone, is down?

Bahamas landing fee for private pilots now $150. Turks-$10. Cayman-$10. Florida keys like $30 but waived if you buy 10 gallons gas. Burger and a drink in Out Islands-over $50. In the keys-$30. No Customs forms or hassle. 2 day trip to Bahamas $150 landing fee, 30 departure, $100 cab ride-basically $300 to go for 2 day weekend. My pilot friends are coming for like a week or 2 but not for 2 days. There are other options. If you look at most of the planes at Ou Island airports, they are single engines. $300 hurts.

What about this idea? Let’s start by cutting expenses and 5he first place to look is cutting the size of the government and increasing its efficiency. That will save a boatload of money and not require any tax increases!