This week's excellent newsletter --

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: BahamasB2B Newsletter - January 31, 2002 : : Hello, : If you haven't seen the new Government Web Site you owe it to yourself to check it out. After all the hard work that went into creating it, you owe it to the talented people who put it together too. And besides, you paid for it. ;-) The site features a sophisticated, password protected "Government Zone", information on virtually all areas of our government and even a copy of the Constitution, so you can get your thoughts straight on the upcoming referendum. : Hats off to Royal Bank of Canada for being the first bank to offer online banking to Bahamians. I would think their share of the market will increase as more consumers realise the advantages and convenience of online banking. Let's hope this starts a new trend as more companies begin to realise the wonderful opportunities to improve customer service and increase efficiency using Internet technology. : Is e-Business Working... Group? : It appears as if some of the members of the BFSB's e-Business Working Group need a little e-business tutorial of their own. Headed by the impeccable Barry Malcolm from the Grand Bahama Port Authority and Wendy Warren, the super efficient CEO of the BFSB, the group is comprised of a couple dozen of the most motivated, well intentioned folks in the Internet industry, including Harbour Island's NetworkBahamas and the Briland Modem. But one really has to question how effective this group will be when some of the members have only a business card presence, or no online presence at all. Hardly an endorsement of an e-society. : It doesn't help that despite repeated invitations to join and support our online community, only a hand full of members have seen the value in contributing. While the group is making progress towards developing an e-Business industry, I'll bet they would get a lot more people jumping on the Internet bandwagon if the members themselves would rally around the flagpole, so to speak, and start contributing to our online community. How about contributing or commenting on articles, adding to the discussions on our Message Board or joining us on one of our weekly chats. The best way to lead is by example. ;-) : UNcivil NONservants : If it wasn't so true, Tourism's Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace's speech at Business Outlook 2002 would have been funny. Commenting on the civil servants in The Bahamas, Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace remarked that some were neither civil nor were they providing service. He made a really good point when saying that The Bahamas could not improve as a tourist destination unless it did so first on a national level. "We can not talk about improving the quality of service to visitors, without first talking about improving the quality of service amongst ourselves." Like my mother used to say, "you have to clean up the house before you can have friends over." : Tourism Gamble? : Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace was also in the news this week announcing a "revolutionary" new strategy for Bahamas tourism. Destination Bahamas is the Bahamas' very own tour operator service, offering travel packages directly to consumers. Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace admits this is a bit unconventional as it puts The Bahamas in competition with the many tour operators currently offering Bahamian travel products. The usually prescient tourism guru is betting that the appeal of our high demand tourism products will overcome any concerns of competition on the part of the existing tour operators. It's a bold strategy and a bit of a gamble, but if it works it puts the Bahamas in better control of it's precious tourism goose. I'm going to have to put my money on the Director General on this one. : Afternoon TIEA : The Bahamas has an international reputation for being a laid back, go-slow kind of place. Perfect for a relaxing vacation. Locals are having a hard time remembering that as they try to digest a flurry of legislation and political activity occurring at an almost dizzying pace. A referendum at the end of February, a general election shortly after, new labour laws, motor vehicle laws and a shiny new tax agreement. : Last Friday's signing of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the United States surprised many in the financial community who felt they were left "out of the loop" in the final details of the controversial but basically inevitable agreement. One thing everybody agrees on though... it will have a substantial effect on our financial services industry, which has already been dramatically impacted by the now "infamous" financial legislation of December 2000. Hopefully, some of the lost revenues can be made up by the Convention Tax Deduction Benefit but it still puts many companies here between a rock and a hard place. : That's it for this week. Thanks for taking the time to read my newsletter and for visiting BahamasB2B. : Cheers, : : Lisa Wells : lisa@bahamasb2b.com

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