Crime's the biggest threat to the future of Caribbean Tourism: Bahamas Prime Minister

Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie has issued a warning that there is no bigger threat to the future viability of tourism in the region than crime...at the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Travel Marketplace...Touching on the delicate issue, which appeared to make many stakeholders in the audience uneasy, Christie argued that this was a problem that was being underestimated at the region's peril.

The problem did not only manifest itself in crimes against tourists (which he said has statistically remained limited), he argued that the stigmatisation of entire nations or tourism destinations as crime-ridden enclaves was destructive.

"The combination of travel advisories against certain destinations, coupled with media publicity in the major markets discouraging tourism travel to certain destinations, is a trend that is bound to not only continue, but to accelerate and widen unless we manage to bring criminal activity down, way down, in our respective countries all across the region," Christie said.