The Bahamas

1. Tourism in the Bahamas produces two-thirds of the gross domestic product (GDP) and half of the employment of residents of the islands is because of the tourism. (Travel and Tourism - Bahamas, 2013)

2. 80% of the tourists that come to the Bahamas are from the United States. (Travel and Tourism - Bahamas, 2013) Unfortunately, if tourism drops this will put a lot of the locals without work. The islands are funded from a number of tourism dollars that come in each year. Fortunately, the Bahamas are close to the U.S. and easily traveled to so, this will keep people visiting for years to come.

3. The Bahamas are close to the U.S. which makes it easy to travel to by cruise line or flight but terrorism can affect a tourists travel plans. Traveling outside the U.S. slows down and cause places such as the Bahamas that depend so highly on the tourism dollars to suffer.

4. In a high tourist area this also brings in outside businesses that are established on the islands. There are on average five million people that visit every year, the majority come from the U.S. with the islands being home of 110 businesses that are affiliated with the U.S. (Economy Watch, 2010)

5. In order to keep the Bahamas from losing all its cultures and natural ways, sustainable tourism should be something that all tourists are aware of before they visit. If guests are aware of the importance of not affecting the culture, social, and environmental assets in a negative way than the area will still keep the important values of what makes this beautiful destination what it is. (Cook & Hsu, 2014)

6. The islands of the Bahamas are filled with resorts and cruise ports that allow tourists to enjoy the Caribbean views. There are many cultures on the islands that tourists can experience and support by traveling here.

7. In 2009 when the recession hit there were 110,000 locals that relied on unemployment. (Travel and Tourism – Bahamas, 2013). Being in an area that relies on tourism to stay financially stable can help with employment for the locals. There will also be a demand for infrastructures to be built and this may cause a shortage in products on the islands therefore needing to find goods and products from sources that are not local.

8. The impact of tourism in the Bahamas has led to an abundance of outside dependence that makes foreign exchange critical to their survival. (Karagiannis, N. 2004) This makes the islands vulnerable; if tourism declines or if there are issues with foreign exchange then the whole economy could hurt.

9. “[The] first requirement of a thorough development strategy is that the expansion of tourism represents a net addition to the effective use of resources and, therefore, to the overall growth of the system” (Karagiannis, N. 2004)

10. In Nassau, Bahamas there is a large flea market type market called the Straw Market that has over 500 merchants that you can buy homemade objects all made of straw as well as homemade jellys and other goods that are all hand made by the locals of the isalnds for a fairly decent price. (The Bahamas, 2017)