Some would view her patience as commendable considering that she only made a few sales this morning. But she has no other choice. The traditional slow season for tourism has made this scene a recurring one for her.
Mrs. Keith, a newlywed, is the mother of six children.
“You got to set an example for your kids,” she said. “I save something for a rainy day so I don’t have to go to someone else to borrow it. I might not be able to fill my stall up, but I buy a little something until things pick up coming towards Christmas.”
Although a struggling straw vendor herself, Mrs. Keith says other vendors come to her to borrow money and supplies. “A guy came to me yesterday to borrow $5 and a woman borrowed $20 the other day,” she recalled.
Mrs. Keith says she gives what she can because she knows how tough this season can be for those who don’t manage their money wisely. “Don’t go drinking and partying because then you wont be able to pay your bills, that doesn’t make any sense,” she warns.
“Some days I make $20, some days $30 and some days I make nothing. I manage my money so that there will be a roof over my head and food on the table for my kids,” she said.
The slow season begins in September, on the back end of summer tourist travel, and continues through October. For instance in September 2002, air and sea arrivals were around 265,479 compared to a high of 481,269 in March. An even larger disparity was seen in 2000 when only 192,639 tourists arrived in September compared to 458,938 in March.
Recent events like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America, the straw market fire a week before and Hurricane Michelle several months later have also been blamed for adversely affecting the economy.
Ever since, there has been marginal recovery.
Other tourism workers say after enduring the highs and lows of the industry, they have been conditioned to find ways to cope.
“Your grocery cupboard should be filled with food that doesn’t spoil,” said Ms. C. Wright, another vendor. She also suggested that it would be wise for vendors to make goods themselves rather than buying them.
The Straw Market has been experiencing such a reduction in business recently that many vendors decided not to open their stalls.
“There are supposed to be about 600 vendors but there are only about 100 vendors here today,” Ms. Wright said.
Taxi driver Leonard Bain also understands the ups and downs of the industry. He has been a public service driver since 1987 and says September is often the slowest month of the year.
“This isn’t nothing new, this is something true,” he said.
But the sprightly taxi driver has his own way of overcoming this seasonal tourist lull. “I’m dependant on God,” he said. “As a result of my faith in God he supplies all my needs.”
Bay Street businessman Fikret Bartamay is a great deal more worried. Business at Caravan 51, his Turkish gift shop, is down considerably.
“This is the first time in a year that I’ve seen it slow like this,” he said.
On average Caravan 51 makes approximately $9,000 per day, according to the manager, but these days the shop is lucky to pull in more than a few hundred dollars. His business is getting so few paying tourists that Mr. Bartamay is considering closing his shop and moving to another country.
“We invested $300,000 in this store and we only make $5, $10 a day” he said.
But he is hopeful that business will pick up in the next few weeks. In the meantime, his store is losing money.
It’s a similar story from Calvin Johnson, owner of Midway Accessories. But he is also optimistic that things will change.
“I’m told that September is the bottom, things trickle up in October then it picks up in November through December,” he said.
Tourism statistics seem to reinforce his opinion. In 2002, arrivals in November were 355,474, a significant increase from 293,248 in October. A similar increase occurred in 2000 when 347,447 tourists arrived during November compared to 285,125 in October.
Mr. Johnson is a former parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and ex-senator under the FNM government.
“We need the government to take this industry more seriously,” he opined.
He is concerned about the dilapidated conditions of forts and other tourist sites and believes that this needs to be addressed.
“All ministers should give tourism more emphasis,” he recommends. “Without tourism we would have no more ministries and now with global competition we need to be on the cutting edge.”
Caribbean countries are experiencing similar problems with their tourism industry. In fact, officials are so concerned about it that it is the central focus of a meeting of tourism professionals from around the region this week, including the Bahamas Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe.
“In these most challenging times for our industry it is vital that we build an effective public/private sector partnership that we bring together all of our resources in order to realise the greatest potential for success in this region,” said Karen Ford-Warner, CTO’s deputy secretary general.
Gilbert Knowles, The Bahama Journal
