1. Tourism provides foreign exchange (US dollars) which allows:
i) The government to pay bills such as: a) Allows government to pay foreign debt. b) Allows the Bahamian dollar to stay on par with the US dollar. c) Allows government to pay the thousands of persons employed in government their monthly salaries. d) Allows government to have money to do road works, school construction and all other governmental works.
ii) Allows Bahamians to go shopping abroad to buy goods and send their children to school, as long as the US dollars are floating in the Bahamian economy easily.
iii) Foreign Exchange allows for the easy importation of goods and food.
2. Tourism provides jobs for thousands of Bahamians both directly and indirectly. If tourists do not come to the Bahamas, those persons directly involved in tourism for example, the straw vendors, the taxi drivers, retail storeowners etc., could be unable to pay their bills. If they are unable to make money they could be unable to pay their landlords, their mortgages (the banks), etc. For example, persons indirectly involved in tourism such as landlords, could have trouble obtaining their rent.
3. Tourism plays an important role in ensuring that Bahamians are employed. If tourists do not come to the Bahamas for a period of time, persons employed directly in tourism could begin to lose their jobs and this would be felt in every sector of the economy. For example, some hotel employees were laid off after the September 11th terrorist attacks and some hotels temporarily closed.
Approximately 30% of all persons in The Bahamas are directly employed in tourism. If you add the persons who are indirectly employed in tourism the percentage of persons employed by the tourism sector increases to about 64%.
Disadvantages
1. Some say that Tourism has a negative effect on the Bahamian culture. It has often been said that Bahamians have become too Americanised and have lost their identities as they try to become the tourists (actors/actresses, singers, rappers etc.) they see and admire who come to the Bahamas often. 2. Some say that Tourism has diminished the desire of Bahamians to listen to Bahamian music. Many Bahamians would prefer to listen to some rapper or R&B singer rather than a Bahamian artist singing Bahamian music. 3. Some say that Tourism has caused the crime rate in the Bahamas to increase. This is closely related to shifts in the population see below. 4. Some say that Tourism has influenced the manner in which Bahamians dress. If you ever see a young Bahamian with his pants hanging really low down on his hips, with a cap on his head that still has the tag on it, this was not traditional Bahamian dress. If you see Bahamian females wearing long boots of any style even when it is not cold outside, this was not originally Bahamian. 5. Some say that Tourism has influenced the manner in which Bahamians speak. The Bahamian vocabulary has over the years become ever so more colourful as “curse words” used by some tourists who have visited the shores of the Bahamas have been adopted by some Bahamians. 6. Some say that Tourism has caused a large shift in the population of the Bahamas. That is, many persons in the Out Islands have been forced to leave their islands to work in Nassau/Paradise Island or Grand Bahama because these were the islands in which they could find jobs. This shift in the population in itself has several disadvantages: i) The shift in the population has caused Nassau/Paradise Island to become overcrowded. ii) It has caused traffic congestion in Nassau. iii) It has raised the level of pollution on the island through fume exhausts etc. iv) It has influenced the rise in crime as more persons become squeezed into smaller living areas, which are densely populated. The crime rate escalates as the persons in the densely populated areas desire to climb out of these areas and obtain the lifestyles of the tourists who look prosperous and the “other” Bahamians who are enjoying the “good life”. In order to obtain the “American Dream” as seen by the tourists who come to the Bahamas, some factions of the Bahamian youth turn to selling drugs, prostitution, gangs (which give them the perception of power) and ultimately taking drugs. The desire to become wealthy quickly then causes a proliferation of the drug culture. The drug culture negatively affects other factions of the Bahamian populace as it causes an increase in burglaries, rapes, home invasions, murder etc.
7. Some say that Tourism has placed a strain on the water and electrical supplies to Nassau/Paradise Island. BEC and Water and Sewerage have to provide sufficient electrical and water supplies to both Tourists and Bahamians. This means that the more tourists there are in the destination, the more demand for these supplies.
