By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Business Desk, Inderia@nasguard.com

The Bahamas tourism product is popular for several reasons beyond the usual sun, sand and sea. Take, for instance, its historical sites. But lately tourists have been taking in another sight — this one not on any tour map but likely to leave a lasting and costly impression.

"I have experienced about 200 people in the three months since this house burned down (wanting to) take pictures in front of it," Sam Williams, president of the Bahamas Loving Care Association, told Guardian Business. "All of us taxi drivers are having the same experiences with that house: Tourists are now stopping and taking pictures (and) not because they find it nice to look at."

The East Street structure sits directly on route to the Water Tower and the Queen's Staircase — two of Nassau's most popular tourist attractions. As such, it has garnered the gasps of thousands of visitors, asserts Williams, since going up in flames early this year.

Both cabbies and tour operators became so concerned they began lobbying government to raze the building and others like it with the potential to affect future trade. That damage has everything to do with word-of-mouth complaints from tourists returning home to family and friends. Many of them will actually have video footage to back up their stories.

Williams has in fact been in contact with the owners the house, who assert they're without the money to tear down the building. He's also spoken with Minister of Works Earl Deveaux, he said.

"They had a forum on Cable Beach about two months ago and we brought it up there," Williams told Guardian Business. "We were told to take the issue to Ministry of Tourism, but when we got there they sent us back to Works."

It was on the suggestion of ministry officials he obtained a letter from the owners consenting to government intervention.

it was upon returning with that sign-off, Williams was directed back to Tourism. Weeks later, the house is still there and his group is now utterly frustrated.

"I feel very bad about this," he said. "In this country, people without any connections are left aside."

Oddly enough, Deveaux took up the problem of unsightly buildings crowding Nassau streets at a meeting with the taxi union. He indicated his department was indeed trying to rub away that collective eyesore.

It's action that's long overdue, said Williams, pointing to the very real threat the East Street house and others like it pose to the multi-billion-dollar tourism industry.

"This is my livelihood," he said.