Bahamas’ tourism could be devastated for a long time after Hurricane Dorian

Bahamas tourism could be devastated for a long time after hurricane

Hurricane Dorian is the strongest storm ever to hit the Bahamas, and the country will struggle to get its tourism-based economy back on track for quite some time.

Dorian has been moving slowly over the islands. The storm made landfall Sunday over the Abacos Islands as a Category 5 with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. It has slightly weakened to a Category 2 storm. At least five people have died as a result of the storm.

The damage to the Bahamanian economy might be mitigated by the path of the storm, which is currently crawling over the northern Bahamas. As a result, it is devastating areas with fewer hotel rooms compared to other areas of the country, according to Rick Newton, a founding partner at Resort Capital Partners.

The Abacos and Grand Bahama Islands have roughly 2,250 hotel rooms, which amounts to less than 15% of the hotel inventory in the country, Newton said. That’s fewer than the roughly 11,000 rooms on the island Nassau, where mega-resorts such as Baha Mar and Atlantis are located.

“There will be a short term effect to tourism,” Newtown told CNN Business, but he said that “post-hurricane countries can recover” citing Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands as examples. He said the next challenge will be where the money will originate to help rebuild those parts of the Bahamas.

Bahamas is the most tourism-dependent economy in the Caribbean and tourism accounts for 60% of the Bahamas’ $9 billion economy. Newton said it’s too early to estimate how much money the damage will cost. A recent UBS report estimates that Dorian will cost between $15 billion and $25 billion in damage, including the United States, once it’s over.

Newton expects the Abacos and Grand Bahama Island will be “offline for awhile.” Some smaller hotels could be open before the high season begins in December, but it’s going to take “one or two seasons” before it’s back to normal. The airports on Grand Bahama and Marsh Harbour, Abaco are currently closed.

Brexit turmoil sends the pound on a wild ride

The pound is getting whipsawed by political turmoil as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a parliamentary rebellion aimed at preventing Britain from leaving the European Union next month without a deal to protect the economy.

Sterling dropped below $1.20 to its lowest level in nearly three years on Tuesday amid growing uncertainty about the future of Brexit and talk of a third U.K. general election in four years.

The currency fell as much as 0.9% against the dollar to $1.196 in early London trading. That was the weakest it’s been since a mystery flash crash occurred in October 2016, according to FXTM, a currency broker.

Johnson has promised to enact Brexit by Oct. 31 whether he’s secured a deal with E.U. leaders or not.

Transgender woman granted long term residency in Japan

A woman from Southeast Asia has become the first transgender person to receive a long-term residential visa in Japan, according to her lawyer.

This special permit is usually awarded to foreigners who marry a Japanese citizen, said lawyer Miho Kumazawa.

The 58-year-old woman, who has not disclosed her name and nationality, has been living illegally in Japan for 26 years.

In May 2016, she and her partner, who have been living together since 2002, attempted to legalize her status by having a same-sex partnership agreement notarized. But they were unsuccessful, as same-sex marriage is not allowed under Japan’s laws, and transgender people are rarely recognized as such.

— From wire reports