I live on and off in The Bahamas, so this convo is quite interesting.
For one, it's not a poor country. The dollar is on par with the US and Bahamians are a very proud people.
As for the cruise ship experience, what has occurred in recent years is that local "straw market" vendors have become more entrepreneurial and instead of working the stalls themselves, they are hiring immigrants from other southern Caribbean islands (Jamaica and Haiti). This, combined with local riff raff that no country can avoid, accounts for some of the bad behavior encountered. Programs have been implemented to retrain those who work in the Tourism industry and a special tourism police force program was implemented. (The entire hierarchy of the Bahamian police force was recently changed to eliminate corruption.)
The Ministry of Tourism loves to deal with complaints like these, so your feedback is appreciated.
For the most part, it's a matter of doing your research when visiting as the experience differs based on the type of vacation. The Bahamas is a chain of islands and each one offers a different and unique experience.
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