Bahamas, Jamaica slam 'high-risk' travel advisory for tourists

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by Adriana Diaz

After the United States issued a travel warning for Caribbean countries, tourism boards in the Bahamas and Jamaica insist those countries remain safe for tourists.

The U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas has issued a safety warning and travel advisory stating that the Bahamian Islands are currently unsafe for tourists after 18 homicides “primarily” due to gang violence in January alone.

The U.S. Embassy in Jamaica also issued a Level 3 travel advisory for tourists to “reconsider travel,” one step short of the most severe warning for Americans against travel altogether.

However, governments on both islands are encouraging tourists to continue booking their trips.

According to Travel Weekly, the Board of Directors of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (BMT) said the warnings and advisories “do not reflect the general safety of the Bahamas Islands, which consists of 16 tourist destinations and many other islands.” Ta.

Last year, the Caribbean country welcomed more than nine million visitors, calling it a “significant milestone for our country.”

However, safety concerns have reached a serious stage.

“Homicide incidents occur at all times, including on the streets in broad daylight,” the embassy said in a release, advising the area east of the Bahamian capital Nassau to be on “high alert.”

Meanwhile, popular U.S. tourist destinations are reinforcing new safety measures.

“The Government of The Bahamas is implementing a strong and innovative crime reduction and prevention strategy. This comprehensive approach is based on the latest research and successful international models and includes prevention, detection, prosecution, punishment and It focuses on five main pillars: rehabilitation,” BMT noted.

Meanwhile, the Jamaican government is also working to alleviate concerns.

According to Travel Weekly, the Jamaica Tourism Board (JTB) noted that the crime rate relating to visitors to the island “remains extremely low at 0.01%,” but with a recent update, the crime rate has been set for 2022. It said the country's Level 3 designation had been “reaffirmed”.

The board said: “There are very clearly defined areas within Jamaica that the advisory cites as having a high risk of crime, so the majority of the island's tourism product remains unaffected.” It pointed out.

Last year, Jamaica hosted 4.1 million visitors, including 2.1 million from the United States alone.

“Tourists can continue to enjoy all that Jamaica has to offer with confidence,” JTB said.

However, the State Department warned that Jamaica has reported one of the highest murder rates in the Western Hemisphere in recent years.

According to data from the Jamaica Police Force, at least 65 people were killed between January 1 and 27 this year. Surprisingly, the high murder rate has decreased from last year, with 81 people killed in the first month of 2023.

The Bahamas and Jamaica are just two of about 200 destinations the State Department has issued warnings about.

Level 4 alerts have been issued for Burma and Afghanistan in recent months.