Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Bahamas Today
Economic Ups & Downs
The Bahamas' tourism-based economy took a hard hit with the global recession of 2009.
The slowdown continued in 2010, with hotels closing and construction projects halting.
Grand Bahama, which had still been recovering from the hurricanes of 2004, was especially
wounded. In Nassau, the crisis has not stopped the $2.6 billion Baha Mar project, however,
which aims to turn Cable Beach into an Atlantis-style megaresort. Despite controversies
over the use of Chinese workers, Baha Mar was slated to break ground in early 2011.
The off shore banking industry, another economic mainstay, has slowed down too follow-
ing government cleanups in the early 2000s.
The Prime Minister & the Blonde
In the 2007 election, Bahamians ousted the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP; a populist leftist
party), who had ruled since their landslide victory in 2002. Why the change of heart? Shortly
before the election, Prime Minister Perry Christie came under fire for allegedly fast-tracking
the residency visa of the late Playboy bunny Anna Nicole Smith. Smith had been hiding out
in the Bahamas to avoid paternity testing of her infant daughter. Immigration Minister Shane
Gibson, who approved the permit, was forced to resign after pictures surfaced of him and
Smith locked in a romantic embrace.
» Population: 310,400 (2010)
» GDP: $8.9 billion
» GDP per capita $28,600
» Unemployment: 7.6%
