Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis yesterday condemned the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) for feeding the public empty rhetoric, broken promises that has led to empty hotels rooms.

Fresh from his campaign launch, the Free National Movement (FNM) leader said according to a report from the Bank of The Bahamas (BOB) it was revealed that key tourism indicators have declined for the first four months of 2016 calling the tourism sector’s performance “relatively weak”.

“Bahamians don’t need another report to know that this government’s aversion to corruption and its failed leadership is crippling our economy,” Dr. Minnis said in a press statement.

“Their continuing failures–failure to root out corruption, failure to offer concrete solutions to fix the economy, failure to address the growing crime epidemic – are all chasing tourists and their tourism dollars away. The failure of this Government has resulted in a seven percent year-over- year decline in peak winter room revenues. This all added to the economic despair plaguing the country in the wake of the likelihood of a Moody’s downgrade, and the continuing debacle of the Baha Mar saga.”

The FNM leader said Bahamians deserve better and the FNM will provide a brighter future for The Bahamas that the Bahamian people can believe in.

“The prime minister is not only slapping Bahamians in the face with his government’s abject failure to address the high unemployment rate and rising crime rate, but now their failure to protect our tourism industry is also adversely affecting our economy,” Dr. Minnis said.

“If the Baha Mar hotel was open today, our tourism industry would be thriving and another 5,000 Bahamians would be employed and the $74 million would have been paid out to Bahamian contractors for the work already completed. Instead this PLP Government is engaging in secret, backroom deals that seek to get Baha Mar open at any cost even if it means selling out Bahamian workers and contractors.”

He holds that the only thing the Bahamian people can hold Prime Minister Perry Christie accountable for is mismanage our lifeblood, whether it is Baha Mar, and the overblown budget of the Carnival fiasco, the Bank of The Bahamas, the high crime rate, or the tourism industry in general.