Derecho del Turismo en las Américas

Tourism Legislation in The Bahamas 423 By the early 1990s, the cruise stopover market on Grand Bahama, for instance, developed to as much 30% of that island’s total stopovers. In addition, new ships were attracted to the Family islands with regular stops on Bimini, Great Stirrup Cay, Great Stirrup Cay (now Coco Cay), Eleuthera and Abaco. The Bahamas improved cruise ports in Eleuthera, as well as ports at Great Stirrup Cay and Coco Cay in the Berry Islands. In 1990, however, the country completed its US$ 45 million Nassau harbour project, which allowed the island of New Providence to accommodate up to nine (9) of the world’s largest ships at one time.With the investment in cruise ship ports and with the expanding cruise ship market, the Government of The Bahamas set out further capitalize on the cruise ship sector to achieve higher returns to the country. It is in this regard that, the 1995 Cruise Ships Act, as its names suggests, seek to provide for the grant of concessions to cruise ships “for the purpose of encouraging the development of tourism in The Bahamas and for related matters”. In this regard, the Government aimed to: • Make available additional employment opportunities for citizens; • Increase cruise ship passenger expenditure; and • Grow and expand ground transportation, restaurants and entertainment, land and sea tours, the arts and craft sector and the construction, industrial and commercial sectors. During the period before the passing of the Cruise Ships Act (1990), 1,853,897cruisepassengersarrivedinTheBahamasandspendUS$110,547,385.41 (Statistical Unit, 2019). In 2017, 4,622,259 cruise passengers arrived in the islands of The Bahamas. Section Conclusion The modern‑day tourism development in The Bahamas was spurred on by the country’s achievement of internal self‑government, in 1964, later followed by independence in 1973. This led to an evolution to a ministerial form of government that allowed the country to establish a unique ministerial structure that was flexible and autonomous for the sole purpose of promoting the country as a tourism destination and developing the product accordingly. While there was more legislation prior to the country’s internal self­ ‑government and independence than after, the Promotion of Tourism Act, enacted with internal self‑government, may be safely considered as one of the