The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an archipelago consisting of 700 islands and of hundreds of islets. This former British colony is located in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida, north of Cuba, and northwest of the British dependency of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The archipelago occupies an area of approximately 13,939 sq km. It is inhabited by some 321,000 people. The Bahamas is a major centre of offshore finance and has one of the world"s largest open-registry shipping fleets. Nevertheless, the tourism industry is the biggest sector of local economy as it generates some 60% of the Bahamas total GDP. It is obvious that the tourism industry is vital for this country.
The significant growth in tourism sector has begun in 1973 when the Bahamas became independent from the UK. At that time the Bahamas made huge investments in travel and tourism, transforming this market into one of the most important economic sectors. For the tourism industry it is essential that the archipelago is close to the U.S. The high frequency of flights and ferries departing from South Florida supplies local economy with American tourists. Nevertheless, the authorities realize that the target group should be more diversified. They want plan to concentrate on markets that present great outbound travel potential, e.g. China.
The Bahamas tourism industry also faces other challenges. Not only that there is a lack of air seats and cruise ship berths but the damages caused by natural disasters are also devastating to the travel and tourism industry. Hurricane season represents a significant threat to this sector of Bahamas economy. Therefore the authorities focus on preventive measures to minimize overall damage and to speed up the recovery process after such disasters. The Ministry of Tourism plans to spend estimated $26.6 million on marketing and promotion of the islands of The Bahamas, and further $4 million on airlift development.