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News from October 3, 2025

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US consumer confidence affecting stopover visitor numbers, says Cooper
Technology

US consumer confidence affecting stopover visitor numbers, says Cooper

A drop in consumer confidence in the US and geopolitical tensions are to blame for a slowdown in stopover numbers in 2025, but tourism professionals hope the numbers can catch up to last year’s numbers by the end of the year, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper said yesterday. Cooper, who made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening of King’s College’s boarding house, echoed the recent sentiments of hoteliers who said 2026 bookings for the first quarter are already trending ahead of this year. “Quarter one 2026 is looking strong. Fourth quarter 2025 is looking good, relative to last year,” said Cooper. “We’ve seen some some some dips in stopover visitors, driven mainly by the fall-off in consumer confidence in our major source market, the USA, as well as other geopolitical issues. “We’re tracking slightly behind last year, which was a record-setting year in terms of stopovers. But suffice to say, we are 10 percent ahead roughly in overall arrivals.” Cooper said the Ministry of Tourism continues to deploy strategies that could strengthen numbers by the end of the year. He added that missions to bolster the Canada market are beginning next week. “We are already up fairly significantly... 75 percent year over year, out of Canada,” said Cooper. He added that the tourism ministry is continuing its efforts to diversify source markets given the drop in consumer confidence in the US. He explained that the government will soon execute a memorandum of understanding with Brazil to expand airlift from that market. Cooper added that airlift out of Canada continues to improve. “We’re going to announce some improvements in airlift real soon, but we have a new flight announced only last week out of Montreal,” he said. “Porter will be coming direct to The Bahamas from Montreal, and we are going to be inviting 27 new flights now out of Canada to the Bahamas. These are in addition to what we had before.”

Chester Robards Senior Business Reporter
Cooper: Significant progress in ease of business for FDI
Technology

Cooper: Significant progress in ease of business for FDI

Replying to criticism of the foreign investment processes in The Bahamas by the US Department of State, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper said yesterday that while things are not perfect, they have markedly improved, evidenced by $13 billion in new investments. “I am satisfied that we have made significant progress,” said Cooper. “There is more to be done... the reality is that we’re putting in place the requisite reforms, and we are receiving many positive reviews from many of our investors who have come to our country.” The US State Department recently released its 2025 Bahamas Investment Climate Statement, which states that while The Bahamas remains a top nation for US foreign direct investment (FDI), there are challenges for investors when attempting to conduct business, including approval delays and a lack of transparent investment procedures. The statement further explains that The Bahamas lags behind other countries when it comes to starting a business, registering property, acquiring construction permits, accessing credit, and resolving property disputes. Cooper, who spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the official opening of King’s College’s boarding facility, said the government has upgraded systems at the Bahamas Investment Authority specifically to streamline investor processes. “We have automated much of the processes. We have a mechanism for inter-agency collaboration to improve the overall process of improving investment projects,” he said. “We have streamlined the National Economic Council’s approval guidelines. We meet on a weekly basis. This had not happened before. There have been infrequent meetings, perhaps with months in between. But, we have made the types of reforms to streamline this process.” The US report questioned whether the government had launched a new project called Bahamas Invest, which was designed to cut through the red tape impeding FDI. The report said while the government has promoted plans to launch Bahamas Invest as an “independent agency intended to fast-track FDI, streamline approvals, and increase transparency”, there has been “no visible progress on this initiative, and it remains unclear whether it remains a government priority”. Cooper said the Cabinet determined not to proceed with Bahamas Invest, but still proceeded immediately to upgrade the systems required to ease the processes of FDI. Cooper explained, though, that some processes related to developments do take time. “Oftentimes there is a process where, once there’s approval in process, in principle, there still needs to be the requisite environmental impact assessments, etc. And those are non-negotiable,” he said. “So, they may get a swift approval in principle, and then it might appear that the process is taking long. But the reality is that we are very intentional about what we do in our country. “We want to ensure that we are protecting our environment for future generations, and we are uncompromising whilst we work to speed up the process.”

Chester Robards Senior Business Reporter
ORG: Lots of opportunities in existing governance legislation nation can benefit from
Technology

ORG: Lots of opportunities in existing governance legislation nation can benefit from

Organization for Responsible Governance (ORG) Executive Director Matthew Aubry told Guardian Business that there are a lot of opportunities in existing governance legislation that the country can benefit from, notwithstanding the latest US Department of State’s recently released 2025 Bahamas Investment Climate Statement for the country. He said: “The bottom line on the US investment report is it reiterates a lot of things that ORG has been talking about for a while. There are a lot of opportunities to be leveraged in the existing legislation related to anti-corruption, including the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the ombudsman, the independent committee for investigation, the protected disclosures, and bringing these in full effect with appropriate funding.” He added that leveraging what is already in the current legislation can “unleash a number of positive opportunities.” The US State Department’s Bahamas Investment Climate Statement has raised concerns about corruption and stalled transparency laws in The Bahamas. The report said: “Despite government efforts to improve transparency and efficiency, investors face challenges such as a lack of clearly defined investment procedures, delays in resolving legal disputes, and incomplete implementation of anti-corruption reforms.” Aubry said: At our anti-corruption conference in 2023 we had all the sectors represented, and those sectors spoke to the varying activities that are happening. The private sector is spending lots of money on codes of ethics and training of staff. The government has different initiatives focused on integrity, including digital governance and work in the financial services center. Civil society groups like ours and the Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWIL) are working to raise community level engagement, so that our political systems are less vulnerable to corruption and patronage. However, most of these exist in silos, and we are not connecting or leveraging them to see the full benefit of this potential framework, or have drafted a framework that could be utilized”. Aubry continued: “The US investment climate report also spoke to a number of key opportunities and presents an overall positive picture. That’s important, and you see how the leverage of laws and policies that connect tourism and economic development have created value. Prioritizing the laws around transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption can have a similar impact for all both economically and socially. “ORG is currently in the middle of supporting an access to information week, tied into a universal access to information day, to remind Bahamians that much can come from furthering transparency, and that they have the capacity to reach out to their elected officials and call for these pieces to be part of a legislative and national priority. “Transparency accountability is something that we all have a mutual responsibility for, and the absence of it limits all sectors in their movement forward towards national development.”

Youri Kemp Senior Business Reporter
Building supplier: Abaconians have upped their game post-Dorian
Technology

Building supplier: Abaconians have upped their game post-Dorian

An Abaco-based building supplier said that Bahamians have “upped their game” with regard to ensuring their homes are protected against hurricane-force winds like Dorian in 2019. James Allen, owner/operator of Ultimate Seawalls and Docks, told Guardian Business yesterday that business in Abaco post-Dorian in 2019 has been steady, and Abaconians are ensuring that their homes and structures are of the strongest quality and durability. “They are trying to build stronger and cover any loopholes they missed. Some people are cheap in a way, but usually they will pay the price later. Most people are investing in upgrading and whatever technology they can to make their structures safer.” Hurricane Dorian caused catastrophic damage in The Bahamas in 2019, with reports indicating many destroyed buildings, particularly in the Abacos and Grand Bahama, did not comply with the existing building code, despite the code being considered relatively strict at the time. While the building code required specific construction standards, a significant amount of damage was attributed to a lack of proper enforcement and the unprecedented ferocity of Dorian. The insurance industry faced significant strain, as up to 80 percent of affected homes and businesses were uninsured, placing a heavy burden on the government and taxpayers for reconstruction. Noting that a stronger building code is needed for the country, Allen said: “Right now hurricane impact windows are optional in the building code, because not all people can afford them. Most times they would get whatever is affordable, but I would suggest that moving forward, that should be the building code.” Although reconstruction on Abaco has gotten a lot better, Allen said there are still a lot of flood-prone areas, and this was seen after Tropical Storm Imelda moved across the country up to Abaco this past week. “Moving forward, we should have the drainage problem addressed, because some of these areas are prone to flooding. A lot of people still can’t get into their homes.”

Youri Kemp Senior Business Reporter
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