Frank Comito, executive vice president of The Bahamas Hotel Association, told The Bahama Journal on Tuesday that some hotel properties have implemented clear-cut energy saving measures.
"A number of hotels have put in place measures to reduce the cost by [using] energy efficient appliances, equipment, light bulbs and fixtures," Mr. Comito said.
"As well, some of them have even put in place solar panels to produce hot water and reduce the cost of hot water, which is one of the highest users of energy."
High oil prices on the international market are to blame for the concerns.
The most immediate effect within the last week is that motorists have been forced to pay more for gasoline and at least one international air carrier has announced a hike in ticket fares.
A gallon of gasoline in New Providence is priced at $4.31 at Texaco stations; $4.09 at Esso stations; and $4.35 at Shell stations. The cost is higher on many Family Islands.
The cost of crude oil on Tuesday stood at $72 a barrel on the international market. While analysts consider the price to be high, it was three dollars fewer than it was on Monday.
In order to encourage the use of alternative sources of energy for heating, the customs duty on solar panels and related parts was made duty free this fiscal year from the existing rate of 35 percent.
Mr. Comito said the association was awaiting word on the recommendations that it submitted to the government for other such industrial items to be imported duty free.
The kinds of items that B.H.A is pushing for the government to add to the existing duty free list, according to Mr. Comito, include energy efficient air conditioning and cooling equipment, heat pumps, energy saving windows, tinting materials, water control devices, which cut down on pumping time and water production costs, timers, energy saving light fixtures, controls and bulbs, and solid and liquid ecological waste treatment systems which protect the environment.
"Some folks have even said we need to go further and use alternate fuels like ethanol," Mr. Comito said.
"A number of governments throughout the world have also established policies that basically encourage energy conservation and promote environmental protection," he said. "So we have encouraged (stakeholders in) the industry to get more involved in (these efforts) and they have."
The Bahamas is already considered one of the highest cost destinations for tourism in the world and according to Mr. Comito, while the country prides itself on adding value to those costs, there is a ceiling on how far that value can go.
"Certainly the high cost of energy forces the country to [increase] cost for rooms, [which] increases the cost of a vacation and there is a price sensitive point where some areas of the market will actually resist that," he explained.
"So the bottom line is if we continue to not be able to control the high cost of energy and other cost related items it makes us vulnerable competitively and if that occurs we would see a drop in visitor arrivals and consequently we would see a drop in expenditures and all of the related advantages of that."
In addition, Mr. Comito explained that B.H.A is paying close attention to a conservation method being used at a resort in South Eleuthera.
"[The Bahamas Electricity Corporation] and the government along with the developers of that property have put in place a test pilot [project] utilizing wind energy and we believe that this may be a source of tremendous energy savings for The Bahamas because of our steady trade winds and the amount of space The Bahamas has to place these components in."
By: Royanne Forbes-Darville, The Bahama Journal
