Bahamas Blog

It is irresponsible for Bahamas Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool Wallace to be touting the Perry Tyler movie, being shot in Eleuthera, as the salvation for our sluggish tourism industry.

That line of thought continues to reinforce the concept that it is the global recession that is dragging down Bahamas tourism.

That is not true.

While the global recession has indeed dampened global tourism, the real reason for the decline of tourism in The Bahamas is lousy service, high-prices and a disgusting anti-foreigner attitude.

Tyler Perry's movie will do nothing to change any of that. And no matter how beautiful his filming makes the Bahamas look, it will not bring in many tourists either.

Mr Perry's market is lower-income blacks. Not exactly the market the Bahamas has been trying to attract.

Ask any Jamaican or Caribbean national how blacks are treated in The Bahamas if they are not "Bahamian" black. The answer will not be pleasant.

Pirates of The Caribbean, an international blockbuster starring A-class movie stars was touted by the Ministry of Tourism as something that was going to transform Grand Bahama's economy and turn The Bahamas into the Hollywood of the Caribbean.

I said back then, that the only work a film studio in the Bahamas would ever get was water scenes.

I also said that after spending a few months in the Bahamas, none of the people involved in the shoot would ever want to come back again.

Seems I was right... on both counts.

It is irresponsible and foolish for Mr Vanderpool-Wallace, the Ministry of Tourism and even Stan Burnside (the cartoonist) to be portraying Perry Tyler's movie as the solution to our tourism woes.

It is not.