Tourism Officials: Blaze’s Impact Will Be Felt Far Beyond Bay Street

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The overnight blaze in the heart of the tourist district prompting officials from the Ministry of Tourism to visit the smoldering site this Friday morning, where they told reporters the impact will be felt far beyond Bay Street.

Latia Duncombe – Director General of Ministry of Tourism

“My team and I walked Bay Street and what was important for us was that we knew that the fire occurred but we also wanted to be sure that there was no impact to the visitor experience and so together we walked bay street and it’s still bustling.”

Tourism director general Latia Duncombe led a delegation of industry stakeholders as they toured the destruction caused by last night’s fire.

She noted images of the fire have also made international headlines.

But when it comes to any actual impact on visitors.

Latia Duncombe – Director General of Tourism

“We’ve been in touch with the cruise port and all of the cruise lines have also been notified and so the visitor experience the forty thousand cruise ship passengers on a busy day that will traverse Nassau downtown and the surrounding areas those visitors can still come and enjoy the destination.”

Anthony Bostwick from the Downtown Revitalization Unit was among those touring the devastation.

Bostwick told reporters that there’s a lot to learn from the incident.

He says the blaze marked a turning point in their efforts to revitalize East Bay Street

Anthony Bostwick – Downtown Revitalization Unit

“We are in private discussions with many of the owners in addressing bringing down a lot of the derelict buildings as you can see we are in a very dry season it only takes a spark to get a fire going as we experience last night so therefore we now have to come back to the table like tomorrow and now say we have to take these things down or you have to do your repairs or maintenance.”

This was not the first time Bay Street has come under threat due to fire.

On September 4th, 2001, the world-famous straw market was destroyed by a blaze.

It led to a new modern home for the popular tourist site.

Then on Valentine’s Day 2011, a fire swept through Betty K Agencies and destroyed a number of buildings and businesses in the immediate area.