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THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022
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‘No future’ for Freeport’s bazaar which nobody wants By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
used to be the pivotal shopping area and particularly touristic, was allowed to fall into the state of disrepair that it has become.” The Bazaar used to be owned by the Grand Bahama Port Authority, but they have sold off a lot of the individual buildings and there is no clear-cut owner or landlord for the Bazaar’s properties. What has also led to the Bazaar’s demise is that when the GBPA divested itself of the property, they moved to the Port Lucaya area and have continued to develop that portion of Freeport as a “go-to Mecca,” leaving the Bazaar and its businesses to their own devices. “This has been made incredibly more dire since the failure of the Princess Hotel and the closure of the Princess Casino, sounded a deathknell for the Bazaar area and a lot of the stores closed down
THE Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce president says he is not surprised fires continually happen at the International Bazaar because vagrants have moved in and no one wants to take full ownership of the “derelict” property. James Carey, told Tribune Business yesterday that the site where the International Bazaar sits is essentially “empty and derelict” in addition to it being a haunt for vagrants who live in the abandoned buildings. Tuesday’s fire, he said, could have started from any one of those vagrants lighting a fire to cook food or for lighting because there is no electricity running into the Bazaar. Mr Carey said: “It is unfortunate that the Bazaar, which
FIREFIGHTERS tackling the blaze that struck the International Bazaar in Grand Bahama again on Tuesday. Photo:Vandyke Hepburn and the properties were shuttered,” Mr Carey added. “Over time the homeless people started gaining access and taking up residence. I don’t know why or how the fires started, but there’s no power to the area, so one has
to suspect that persons inside have access to something and they are either cooking or they’re doing other things that are perhaps causing these fires.
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‘Revenge tourism’ is driving big return By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister says the government doesn’t want to stifle “revenge tourism,” as it is leading the economic rebound from the COVID-19 economic shutdown. Senator Michael Halkitis, Minister for Economic Affairs, speaking at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s
“Power Breakfast” yesterday said this “revenge tourism” is driven by people who were locked down during the pandemic and now want to travel the world as lockdowns have been lifted in our major source markets around the world. Mr Halkitis said: “A lot of it has to do with Cabin Fever, pent up demand and people now finally being able to move about and so, as we crafted the budget, it was important for us not to do anything that
MICHAEL HALKITIS
Cruise line provides route to Leslie’s dream WHEN Leslie Gibson accepted a position on Royal Caribbean International’s Perfect Day at Coco Cay during the height of the COVID pandemic, he didn’t imagine the opportunity would lead him to his dream job. “The craziest thing is that what I’m living now, I dreamt about,” said Gibson, who is now based in Miami. “I studied engineering, but I prayed for a job where I would be travelling and working outside of where I’m from. I love The Bahamas and I’m always ready to go back home,
but I’ve always wanted to get more exposure, see the world and all it has to offer. And Royal has been able to provide me that.” Gibson said he found his footing in human resources after friends and family saw his natural affinity for working with people and problem solving. Gibson began his journey with Royal Caribbean as a human resources specialist on Coco Cay in June 2020, where he worked for 11 months before he was selected to move to corporate and take on a
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Trade stats show continuing rebound By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net NEW trade data suggests a rebound for the Bahamian economy as imports and exports are up year-on-year . The Department of Statistics in its latest Foreign Trade Quarterly report said that the value of commodities imported into The Bahamas totalled $925m resulting in a increase of 43 percent when compared with the same period last year. “The major groups of merchandise, were ‘Mineral Fuels Lubricants And Related Materials’ which totalled $200m, ‘Food And Live Animals’ at $161m and ‘Machinery And Transport Equipment’ which totalled $139m. The combined value of these categories represented 54 percent of total imports,” the report noted. “Other categories that contributed to total imports were ‘Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles’ which accounted for $121m, ‘Manufactured Goods Classified Chiefly By Materials’ valued at $119m and ‘Chemicals’,
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Sharks that don’t bite By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
would interrupt this growth or to stifle this emerging growth.” For the first five months of the year tourism arrivals were estimated at 2.43m visitors, meaning that it is on pace to record near 6m tourists for 2022. The record year for tourism was 2019 with 7.249 million arrivals. Promoting the government’s intention not to introduce any new taxes for the current
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THE SBDC/Access Accelerator’s Summer Entrepreneurial Training & Mentorship (SET) series kicked off its first of three pitch nights in grand style awarding $25,000 in cash prizes to local small business owners. Modelled after the television show Shark Tank, the Innovative Business Pitch Competition featured six Bahamian entrepreneurs of Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) presenting their innovative concepts to a panel of judges and a room full of business leaders, mentors and spectators. The competitors were given five minutes to demonstrate how their small business relies on unique products, services, processes, platforms
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