The Ministry of Tourism, the police and major cruise lines are working on a white paper on crime that will specifically address how to prevent crime in tourist areas, Bahamas Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said.
This comes after several cruise lines that visit The Bahamas began issuing crime warnings to their passengers.
The proposed white paper was discussed during a meeting attended by police, representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Transport and officials from the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association last Thursday, Wilchcombe said.
The tourism minister said he was not at that meeting.
He said the major cruise lines are understandably worried about the country’s crime levels and how crime can affect the millions of tourists who visit The Bahamas on cruise ships each year.
“They bring visitors to a country and they are responsible for those visitors,” he told The Nassau Guardian.
“Don’t forget, there is liability and any visitor who would meet any sort of violence while in another destination that they have brought here they have a [legal] responsibility.
“So they have to ensure that the visitor is safe. They’ve spoken to us very frankly about the situation and we expect them to. We reassured them that we shared their concern because it’s not only the visitor; it’s for the citizenry.”
In April, Wilchcombe told reporters that cruise officials were warning visitors on crime in The Bahamas.
He said his ministry has a good working relationship with the cruise industry and also discussed new ways to create spin-off jobs for Bahamians from the sector.
“A number of things are being worked on, but we have to put behind us this whole question, this whole fear factor,” he said.
“So what we have to do is ensure we can eliminate that because that’s not the destination we want.”
Kewana Rouse, a tourist from South Carolina, traveled to The Bahamas onboard a Carnival cruise ship last week.
Rouse, a frequent traveler to the country, said the cruise line warned each guest to be wary of crime in Nassau, which made her anxious once the ship docked in Nassau.
“They have letters on the cruise for each traveler just letting them know that although the island is beautiful be careful because there is crime in the area and beware,” she said.
“I was definitely nervous. I’ve been here a lot of times and I’ve never been nervous.”
Although crime against locals has been a major issue for several years, recent crimes against tourists have grabbed headlines locally and internationally.
Last week, the United States Embassy’s Vice Consul Kathleen Cayer was robbed and assaulted on her way to St Francis Xavier Cathedral.
In May, American visitor Kyle Bruner was shot dead during a reported armed robbery.
Police said Bruner was trying to defend a female friend who was being robbed.
Courtesy of the Nassau Guardian
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