Bahamas Philately: The 1970’s

One year after Independence celebrations, Prime Minister Lynden Pindling and the PLP government were facing critical level economic challenges. The economy had begun to stall, hotel unions were threatening strikes, and there were problems with the dollar.

For tourism, there was wariness with the newly independent Bahamas and it faced strong competition from other tourist destinations. Many of the hotels constructed in the 1950s and 1960s had aged and the newly constructed Paradise Island was drawing tourists away.

Pindling’s Bahamianization also angered many hoteliers. No longer were they able to bring in foreign staff without incurring longer wait times for work permits, under heavily enforced, stricter government approvals. Black Bahamians needed jobs.

By the early summer of 1974, the Emerald Beach Hotel had closed half of its rooms and fired half of its staff. The Balmoral, owned by Court Lines of Britain, was watching its profits fall into the red, with plans to turn it into a hospital, and the Sonesta Beach Hotel had notified staff that the doors were may close for good.

Prime Minister, Lynden Pindling purchased the three, loss-making, hotels on Cable Beach at a cost of $20,000,000. By 1979, six major hotels in Nassau and Freeport, would be government owned and Bahamian operated. By 1979, the new and spectacular Freeport International Bazaar would be born.

The Bahamas Government had entered the hotel business.