Reports
THE CARIBBEAN - THE BAHAMAS
Winner takes it all
The Bahamas gained independence from the UK in 1973 and the islands have prospered through tourism, international banking and investment management. Today it is one of the wealthiest countries in the Caribbean
Te Bahamas is made up of a chain of over 700 islands and islets and was the site of Christopher Columbus’ first landfall in the New World in 1492. Although the Spanish never colonised the Bahamas they did ship many of the native Lucayan people to slavery in Hispaniola.
Te islands were mostly deserted until the Brits arrived in 1647 to create their settlement and the islands became a British colony.
Te Bahamas is located in the Lucayan Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and south of Florida whilst its capital Nassau is located on the island of New Providence.
Americans brought slaves over and established plantations and today descendents of the slaves and free Africans make up around 90 per cent of the population.
Te Bahamas gained independence from the UK in 1973 and the islands have prospered through tourism, international banking and investment management. Today it is one of the wealthiest countries in the Caribbean. GDP stands at $9,066bn in 2016 with a 0.3 per cent growth rate last year and per capita of $24,600. Te economy has a very competitive tax regime with no income tax, capital gains or wealth tax. Tourism is responsible for around 45 per cent of GDP and provides jobs for around half the country’s workforce.
Te tourism sector began to boom in the 1950s when a number of hotels were built and the government capitalised on the growing economy of the US. Tere were around 52,000 visitors back in 1951 growing to 142,000 by 1954.
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Te islands attract around 6.1 million visitors each year with around 78 per cent coming from the USA. Expenditure for 2015 was $2.5bn in total for all the islands.
THE GAMING INDUSTRY Gaming in the Bahamas dates back as far as the
1920s when the Bimini Bay Rod and Gun Club opened in Alice Town which became Nassau’s first casino. Tis was later followed by the Bahamian Club and during the 1960s the islands became homes to several large scale casinos.
Te casinos operated under an exemption to a law which made all gambling illegal. Te first regulatory framework was the Lotteries and Gaming Act of 1969 which basically established casino licensing procedures, set up the gaming board and made lotteries and other sectors illegal.
Te Gaming Board of the Bahamas governs the gaming sector and was also established in 1969 alongside the gaming act. It has three divisions including the Gaming Enforcement, Finance and Support Services.
Tere have been many amendments to the act including a 1978 amendment which allowed the Hotel Corporation to be the only entity allowed to grant casino licences.
Te Bahamians are not allowed to gamble in the country’s casinos whilst foreigners are permitted and encouraged to do so. As such casino gambling has grown significantly and tourist gaming is part and parcel of the lure of the island.
Te various sectors evolved - casinos grew,
bookies accepted wagers and gaming houses boomed. Te gaming act has been amended over the years to accommodate such activities particularly sports betting and pari–mutuel wagering but the law was inadequate to regulate 21st century gambling.
Casinos were affected by the economic downturn with declining revenues whilst advanced technology means expansion was imminent and this needed to be backed by the upgrading of the gaming law to remain competitive.
Te locals meanwhile were actively engaged in numbers games – paying small amounts of money to bet on the numbers they chose that day would ‘fall’ on any given day. For a $2 bet a player could win up to $900. Although these games of chance were never legally sanctioned for decades they existed and the authorities turned a blind eye.
In 2010 the government decided to regulate the web shops and plans were put into action to regulate by the then Free National Movement
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