Hi all
Just thought I'd add a comment.

Every year my wife and myself take a 2 week vacation, this used to be in Ireland... until the Irish smoking ban.
So we looked at more exotic places like Hawaii, we were both exited at the prospect of visiting, until they issued a no smoking ban too.

We finally settled on the Bahamas, simply because they DO NOT have anything like smoking or any other sort of bans.
I don't know how much money smoking bans cost these places, but we spend on average $3000 during our vacation.

By the way, neither myself or my wife smoke cigarettes or cigars.
We just don't want to visit countries with any form of these draconian laws, as these places seem to us a little like Germany in the 1930s and South Africa in the old days.
If the Bahamas are ever dumb enough to follow Ireland, Hawaii and the rest of US we'll just go somewhere else. Turks and Caicos? Aisia?

Roy and Tracey

I thank you for your choices. Would you please email the tourist industries for both Hawaii & Ireland & tell them of the reason for choosing the Bahamas? Thanks.

Reported on the local news last night.

Atlantic City casinos are posting losses due to the smoking bans. Most people are headed elsewhere to enjoy their free time.

1st I've heard of ANY news reporting loss of business due to smoking bans.

How about the airline business? All those bankruptcies.... How about Amtrac, within 2 years of their smoking ban, bankruptcy.
As for Casinos, their non-smoking areas are the easiest places to find a seat when you are tired.
My favorite past-time is visiting a casino. Bet I can avoid them in the same way I do Amtrac and the airlines.

Hi again
Sorry, I missed a country off my list of places NOT to visit any more.
The USA, we used to spend our holidays there too (Orlando Florida) but no more. We've seen ordinary tourists (mainly fellow Brits) who were treated like lepers, just for smoking a cig.

By the way, I'm not a smoking or anti-smoking crusader, I just think that if a product is legal, you should be free to use it. Even as a non-smoker I don't find the smell of tobacco offensive at all, in fact some of it does smell rather nice (some does smell rather yukky though, but we can always sit downwind if we don't like it.
If anyone feels like forwarding my comments to any countries tourist board, please feel free to do so. You can include my email address too if you like.
smithharding2000 AT yahoo.co.uk
If they bother to reply to us, I'll tell them exactly why we don't visit anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by Roy:
By the way, neither myself or my wife smoke cigarettes or cigars.
We just don't want to visit countries with any form of these draconian laws,

Thank you, Roy and Tracey! We appreciate the support!

Roy and Tracey, you sound like the kind of Brits I met on my several trips to the UK - people I absolutely loved. Let us know how things are in the Bahamas - we may all want to move there, lol.

As for bans, here's another one just announced: Comfort Suites will be banning smoking on all their properties as of May 1st, joining Marriott and Westin in going smokefree. Another hotel chain to avoid, anywhere in the world....