Trouble In Paradise As Bahamas Cruisers Targeted By 'Unusually Brazen' Criminals
It was a good news/bad news kind of thing for Bahamas officials when Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, pulled into Nassau last Friday. On the good news side of the ledger, the ship brought with it tourists and tourist dollars that are still desperately needed in the context of a global tourism downturn. On the bad news side, Royal Caribbean sent a newsletter to all passengers warning that Nassau is quickly becoming crime-soaked and dangerous for tourists. Not the best kind of press.
Taken just on its own, the newsletter was hardly anything alarming. It blandly reminded tourists that like all international cities, Nassau has its dangers. Cruise officials suggested minimizing those dangers by staying in organized tours. Two problems though. First, it's still a huge blow to the easy-going image that Bahamas tourism agencies have tried to cultivate. The Prime Minister had to go to a Royal Caribbean celebration and promise everyone that the government's committed to toning down the pace of robberies and murders. Second, as this story from last month illustrates, going on a tour is exactly the wrong way to avoid getting robbed:
Robberies of tour groups are part of a growing trend in the Bahamas. Here, one woman shares her story of being held at gunpoint while on a Segway tour in Nassau... 'Two men stepped out of the bushes dressed in black combat gear, each wielding a large shotgun.'... "One gunman patted each of us down to make sure none of us were hiding anything else of value.'
The crime wave is being called "unusually brazen," and criminals seem to be specifically targeting cruisers. If that wasn't bad enough, the rest of Nassau has seen a spike in murders that's getting plenty of attention. Part of the coverage is coming because journalists are lazy and "trouble in paradise" stories are really easy to write. But that doesn't mean that there hasn't been a genuine increase in crime. This is more than image problem for the Bahamas, although it's worth remembering that it's also that.
[Photo: FotoDawg / Wiki Commons]
Related Stories:
· Danger In Paradise: I was robbed at gunpoint in the Bahamas [AOL Travel]
· Bahamas Coverage [Jaunted]
· Cruise Coverage [Jaunted]
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