The Bahamas joins a regional rethink of who really gains from cruise tourism

The Bahamas is among governments re-examining whether record cruise arrivals translate into local benefit, as the Caribbean Tourism Organization launched a US-facing “Tourism Supply Side Initiative” during Caribbean Week in New York (5 June) to keep more visitor spending with local farmers, makers and operators. Tourism is half the Bahamian economy; general elections are due by September. For you: if you run a diaspora-linked business in food, craft or culture, supply-side programmes are an opening — these initiatives are explicitly hunting local vendors.