Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe on Monday expressed delight over the fact that U.S. President George W. Bush has ordered a review of a new U.S. policy that would require passports from people entering the United States.
“Itﾴs welcomed news,” Mr. Wilchcombe said in an interview with The Bahama Journal. “We support the presidentﾴs decision to review it.”
U.S. press reports last Friday indicated that Mr. Bush sees the policy as nonsensical.
“When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly todayﾴs crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, ﾑWhatﾴs going on here?ﾴ” Mr. Bush was quoted as saying at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
He said, “If people have to have a passport, itﾴs going to disrupt the honest flow of traffic. I think thereﾴs some flexibility in the law, and thatﾴs what weﾴre checking out right now.”
The policy would come into effect for travel from The Bahamas to the United States on January 1, 2006.
Minister Wilchcombe said it could very well have a significant negative impact on local tourism.
“It would affect us in the short term obviously,” he said. “The spur-of-the-moment visitor, the cruise visitor, all have to plan and some donﾴt like to plan. So the problem is how do you get up this morning and say ﾑI want to travel to The Bahamasﾴ with no passport. It does hurt us because the success of The Bahamas has a lot to do with [where weﾴre located]. So if we lose that advantage, the individual cannot move like he wants to.”
Many local hotel officials are also welcoming the announcement from President Bush that the policy announced by the State and Homeland Security departments may not be a good idea.
Prior to the announcement, hotel officials had raised concerns about the policy and said they were working to get the date pushed off for it to come into effect.
In Canada and Mexico the policy becomes effective in 2008.
President of The Bahamas Hotel Association Earl Bethell said in a recent statement that, “While we understand the reasoning behind the rule and certainly do not wish to compromise the security of our respective nations and the traveling public, the implementation timetable presents the industry and The Bahamas with a huge challenge.”
He said without sufficient time to educate the traveling public regarding the new requirement, coupled with the time required to secure a passport, the implementation date would have a detrimental impact on visitor arrivals.
“This will have a corresponding negative effect on industry revenue, government revenue, and upon employment levels in the industry,” he also said.
The new rules, which are the latest effort to deter terrorists from entering the United States, apply to Americans traveling from The Bahamas, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central and South America.
U.S. press reports indicated that The White House did not say why the president was unaware of the plans his administration announced just a week earlier.
Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
