Prior to one year ago, most people ranked safety as one of their top concerns, although not their main concern, when deciding where to vacation. Today, safety and the fear of terrorism or crime is the leading consideration in making a vacation decision.
The tragedy of September 11 hit all peace-loving people right in the heart. It also hit each of us in the pocket.
There are many lessons, which can be learned from September 11.
What did hit home hard for many of us in The Bahamas is the reality that terrorism, like any criminal act, can sap the very economic livelihood out of people, businesses, industries and our nation.
It is estimated that The Bahamas lost over $100 million in revenue as a result of September 11 and according to many business people, the U.S. recession aside, we have yet to recover fully from that dreadful act.
Many businesses believe that 9-11 dipped us into the recession deeper and longer. A survey of Bahamian business owners last June revealed that 85 percent of them felt The Bahamas was still feeling the impact of September 11.
One year later, our visitor arrivals are down nearly ten percent. Airlines around the world, many facing bankruptcy, continue to struggle to fill seats as a portion of the public still have put the brakes on travel.
Hotels, not only here in The Bahamas but at most tourist destinations throughout the world, are reporting occupancy levels much lower than would’ve been anticipated coming out of a recession. Retail sales are down both here and abroad. Bay Street stores report sales declines of anywhere from 10-20 percent over the previous twelve months. Most hotels, tourist-oriented retailers, straw vendors, taxi drivers, and excursion operators — report that both sales and profits are down. A stunning 22% of businesses in The Bahamas anticipate a net loss this year according to a recent survey.
In the United States, several hundred thousand employees have been laid off or made redundant since last September, while here in The Bahamas most employers have held the line on reducing their workforce but have had to hold the line on spending. Reduced hours are still not uncommon and over the next few months may indeed even be more prevalent.
Capital spending is down. Investment plans are on hold or have been slowed. Pay raises and expansion of benefits are on hold. Corporate contributions to worthwhile causes are down.
As the private sector engine has slowed, so too has Government revenue. At the same time, Government has had to improve security and electronic surveillance at our many air and seaports. The toll on the public treasury forces new realities as to how public funds are expended and invested.
Despite all of this, our tourism economy has rebounded better than others in the region. Our proximity to the United States coupled with the huge investments made by the private sector in recent years in upgrading our hotels, stores and overall offerings – has helped to soften the impact and accelerate our recovery. There are many positive signs which point to a tourism turnaround early next year as air and sea visitor arrivals rebound and hopefully several new investment projects take shape.
Like most of our neighbours in the Caribbean, we are viewed as a haven of peace and serenity – an escape from reality for many of the traveling public. Our reputation for beautiful beaches, outstanding water and friendly people adds to the lure of The Bahamas.
But reputations can change overnight. Just as September 11 immediately changed the comfort level of the public toward traveling, a perception that a destination is unsafe can ruin the reputation of a tourist destination overnight.
Consider the case of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. This month marks thirty years since eight people, including four tourists, were gunned down on a golf course. The media frenzy, which followed, decimated their economy overnight. Tourist arrivals declined by 50 percent. Unemployment approached 20 percent.
Investment projects on the boards disappeared. Ten years after the incident, hotel occupancy rates were one-third less than they were before the incident. The traveling public was so indoctrinated through the media and word of mouth that the place was crime-ridden, that they stayed away in droves. The facts, crime statistics, dispelled this but remember that perception is reality.
Once a destination like St. Croix or Jamaica is tainted with the perception and reputation as being unsafe, no matter the reality — everything is under a microscope by the international media and travel industry.
Again, earlier this year Carnival Cruise Lines and Norweigian Cruise Lines announced that they were pulling out all cruise ship calls to St. Croix and Royal Caribbean is reducing the number of ships they have calling there. They blamed crime, particularly nuisance crimes of harassment against their passengers and crew. The Virgin Islands estimates it will lose $41 million a year as a result of this.
Crime, domestic terrorism if you will, will cost this small island hundreds of jobs, force a number of businesses to close, and will reduce the amount of money which taxi drivers, shop employees, craftsmen and countless others take home.
As the loss trickles around the economy most people, whether they work in tourism or not, will be impacted. Government will also be faced with hard decisions – as tax revenues decline. Services, contract work, capital improvements will all be impacted.
Downtown Nassau could take a lesson out of the St. Croix experience. When we turn our head on the ‘nuisance’ crimes perpetrated on our cruise visitors – children hustling cheap bracelets on the streets, cigars and jewelry being peddled on the sidewalks, shady characters inviting conversation, loud cussing echoing throughout the streets, filthy derelict individuals roaming aimlessly – what are we saying to our visitors, our guests, about our home? At what point will our visitor’s discomfort and perception that Nassau is unsafe reach a level where cruise lines would consider the value of calling on Nassau?
The Bahamas will continue to be economically vulnerable to external factors – like international terrorism. We cannot affect that. However, we are equally vulnerable to domestic terrorism. The crimes we commit against one another – either directly or through omission, or by looking the other way, or by not taking on our individual responsibility – these are things, which eat away at the fabric of our society. These are things, which we can affect. The domestic and drug-related crimes – generally confined to ‘over-the-hill’ – may appear to be cordoned from our tourist areas – but indirectly they impact all of us.
And what if, God forbid, one incident or a series of freak incidents spill over into our tourist areas? What if a breach of security at our air or seaports occurs which results in an unfortunate incident? What if the international press decides to make one incident the “shark” or “child abduction” story of the season – and latches on to it with a tenacity, which could devastate our economy and ruin our reputation? Far-fetched � but not unrealistic.
That’s why we need to pay much greater attention to the basics – both the root causes of terrorism and crime which require a greater long-term commitment and investment by all of us; and a greater resolve for uncompromised enforcement and security to prevent breaches from occurring today.
A strong foundation in basic education builds people who can think and do for themselves. A moral upbringing provides grounding in honesty and integrity, justice and fair play, family and work ethics. Ensuring our youth are involved in productive activities – sports, academics, religious and civic activities, business and work-experience – keeps them positively engaged and gives them a well-rounded foundation to succeed in life.
There are many avenues for businesses and individuals to make a greater commitment in this regard – through churches, schools, youth groups, civic organisations, business organisations and groups like Safe Bahamas. Not enough of us are engaged and many of us who are need to be better organised and focused.
On the enforcement side, we must demand and expect more from those who are entrusted with the front-line of our personal and national security. But we must realize that individuals and businesses must be partners in the overall effort and more of us must step up to the plate.
More than anything else – September 11 should teach us that all of us are much more interdependent and change can occur at a dizzying pace. What happens in the United States and on a global scale affect all of us. Likewise, what happens in The Bahamas – positive and negative – can quickly affect the traveling public and ultimately all of us in The Bahamas.
