Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce President, Dillon Knowles spoke with ZNS News on Tuesday about the hostilities between Iran and Israel and its possible impact on The Bahamas.

Knowles expressed his concern about the United States involvement in the war between the two countries stating that US involvement in conflicts in the middle east has in the past been critical to the rest of the world.

He said, “the biggest concern I think that there is is the blocking of the Straight Of Hormuz and therefore the impact that that has on global trade.”

Israel attacked Iran on June 13th, Iran subsequently responded. The United Stated bombed Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend with US President Trump announcing a ceasefire on Monday. Hostilities continuing between Israel and Iran after the ceasefire announcement.

According to Knowles when it comes to war consumers are always impacted. “We have to continue to diversify our economy. We have to continue to prepare for tough times. We cannot just continue to spend, spend, spend. We have to save and invest and we have to stock up on good that we need for situations that may come about,” he said.

The Chamber President also expressed concern about the tourism industry. He said, “anytime there’s an increase in cost in the United States, which is our biggest tourist market, there’s a drain on their income, their disposable income and disposable income is what is used for travel.”