Senate
15th December, 2008

19 Months later, it’s time to stop blaming the PLP.

PLP met in 2002
A magnificent ship that had seen its glory days. The ship of State was in shambles
 Undisclosed debt (hidden under the table) of $120M
 Unparalleled disrepair of infrastructure, especially airports and docks

PLP stripped the ship down to its hull, restored her, put all the latest fittings, furniture and equipment in her (ask the IMF)
The world fell in love with her (ask the Bahamian and non Bahamian investors)

PLP left strong economy with IMF projected growth of more than 4% per year for 4 years.

We are now in a serious world economic downturn, which has been exacerbated by the FNM’s Stop Review and Cancel (SRC) policy.

Even with all the modern equipment that SHOWS you what’s ahead under the water, the sand banks, the depth, the reefs and even the fish, the FNM ran the ship aground, on a REEF, not even a sandbank
incompetence
 negligence
 deceit
 slackness

All of words attributed to the FNM over the past 19 months
 

In running the ship of State on a reef, the FNM has jeopardized the livelihood of thousands of Bahamians

Especially in times like these there VISION is needed – what is the VISION for tourism, the main engine of our economy
 Where does is fit into our VISION for our nation

The investment in LPIA and the engagement of NAD was put in place by the PLP.

It was part of the PLP’s vision for National Development. The National Plan for Tourism had many components, one of them was the redevelopment of LPIA and its management by YVRAS.

We support concessions, generally and for LPIA, specifically.

The modernization and upgrade of LPIA is CRITICAL to the success of the Nassau Paradise Island Tourism product.

The magnitude of this capital investment is NECESSARY to support TOURISM

Three primary reasons to stimulate expansion of the tourism industry:
the largest earner of foreign exchange and is likely to maintain this position for the foreseeable future.
the industry is labour intensive and can therefore provide a significant number of the jobs that our nation needs to employ the increasing numbers of school graduates
unrealized opportunities for a broader distribution of the income derived from tourism …especially through Bahamian entrepreneurship

We must find a way to increase to the benefit of Bahamians the economic spin offs from tourism.

Focus must be had on agriculture and mariculture, especially the participation in Bahamians in businesses connected with these industries.

The kinds of incentives that we legislate so as to attract non Bahamian investment in our most significant sector must be given to Bahamians so that Bahamians can benefit from similar incentives and grow our economy to withstand external impacts.

Four require immediate attention to address these matters:

1. Expansion of incentives to tourism projects beyond hotels
2. Amendment of the Time Share Act
3. Amendment of Stamp Tax
4. Creation of Tourism Development Fund under the administration of a
Tourism Development Corporation
 
Each of these will be addressed in turn.

EXPANSION OF INCENTIVES BEYOND HOTELS

In order to accelerate the participation of Bahamians in the tourism sector beyond hotels, there is a need to provide incentives and change policies in a number of areas including the following:

Bahamian Nightclubs with full show
Golf courses in the Family Islands
Self Catering Facilities
Time Sharing Units
Facilities using/preserving historic sites
Attractions of a touristic nature
 

Bahamian nightclubs are vital to the continued development of Bahamian music, to the expansion of Bahamian artistic expression and they provide a principal vehicle for increasing visitor satisfaction and increasing visitor spend beyond hotels.

Cat and Fiddle
Drumbeat Club
Silver Slipper
Out Island Bar
Trade Winds Lounge
Freddie Munnings Sr.
John Chippie Chipman
Eloise
Becky
Frank Penn
Ronnie Butler and the Ramblers
Lou Adams Orchestra
Rupert and the Rollings Coins
Al Collie and the VIPs
King Eric and his Knights

WHERE ARE THE MODERN DAY VERSIONS?

Either discourage hotels and resorts from building Bahamian nightclubs and showrooms within their facility or encourage them to have Bahamian investors operate those facilities within those resorts. While it is possible to achieve this through the licensing process for new properties, it would be more desirable to achieve the result through persuasion.

This will reinforce the policy that all "Bahamian" nightclubs or showrooms must be owned and operated by Bahamian investors…it is recommended that we review the current policy prohibiting non-Bahamian investment in nightclubs. ….allowing joint ventures between Bahamian and non-Bahamian investors.

Golf courses have gone from specialty requirements to a standard part of the resort experience

need for and cost of intensive maintenance of golf courses … recommend all new and existing golf courses be exempt from property taxes and allowed duty free importation of all construction material, furnishings and equipment needed for maintenance for a period of five years.

PLP HOA’s negotiated the access all Bahamians and the participation of Bahamas Golf Federation and access of young professional golfers, so we could develop  Bahamian future Tiger Woods

Designated historic sites must be preserved
the owners and developers of such designated sites be allowed to import material for construction and refurbishing duty free and property taxes be waived on such approved sites for a specified period.

They MUST work with Antiquities and Monuments Commission AND Tourism

Talk about Belize…ruins…

Talk about trips to Clifton etc…Tourism should fund young Bahamians to start Clifton and other tours e.g a downtown art gallery tour, so cruise ship and other tourists can have more historic and cultural experiences.

Small hotels & self catering facilities small hotels in New Providence with 5 or more bedrooms be provided the same exemptions for renovations and refurbishing as those now provided for Family Island properties under the Hotel Encouragement Act.

Should meet with to determine what their requirements are and incentivize them

Help promote them…on the MOT web site…Minister is a web guru…

Have them ready for upswing

The Hotel Encouragement Act should be amended to allow properties with rooms only (minimum of say 10 rooms) and an appropriate lobby, to qualify under the Act provided that the property is within a reasonable  distance of restaurants serving breakfast, lunch and dinner outside the facility. the Act as it is currently written encourages competition between hotel and outside restaurants.
The government ought to lead by encouraging spending outside hotels and resorts.
There is a greater chance the small hotels can earn higher profits and thereby maintain their properties better. Similarly, the revenues of outside restaurants can increase and they can also improve the maintenance of their facilities.

Give Bahamians a chance…

Time share facilities
Talk about Time Share business
Opportunites for growth
New Act
 Involvement of Arda
 Involvement of private sector
 Torpedoed by OAG
Not out yet..almost 7 years later

provides “built in” tourism in the same way as second homes ensure repeat visits by those home owners.

studies have shown  that time share facilities in The Bahamas are regarded as the most poorly maintained time share units in the region

thought needs to be given to how to icentivize time share owners to pay the costs for refurbishing and construction material

they might be given less than the duty free allowances for hotels and resorts

Consideration might also be given to relief from property tax for a specified period. This provision will also allow the licensing authorities to be much tougher on the owners of those facilities in need of refurbishment.

It will also address those hotel properties that are hybrids in that a number of their rooms are sold as time share units yet they enjoy the full benefits of the Hotel Encouragement Act.

CREATION OF A TOURISM DEVELOPMENT FUND &
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Because of lack of “know how” , save for the transport business, there are very few large Bahamian suppliers for the many goods and services needed by our increasingly modern and sophisticated tourism industry

Successive governments talked about converting the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas be converted to the Tourism Development Corporation of The Bahamas to address the following matters:

Secure or provide directly, consulting advice and/or soft loans to Bahamian tourism businesses.

Manage the Hotel Encouragement Act, the Time Share Act and the Cruise Ship Overnighting Act

Ensure that Investors live up to obligations under any Agreements with Government in the tourism sector

Promote the establishment of linkages with small Bahamian businesses to hotels, resorts and other tourism attractions

Promote The Bahamas overseas as a site for investment in Tourism projects

Development of tourism development plans for all of the principal islands of The Bahamas.

Time for VISIONARY leadership
No time for incompetence on our ship of state
NOT time for a piecemeal approach
AGAIN urge National Development Plan

Support the Bill