Grand Bahama Island is being showcased at the Caribbean Tourism Conference as the newest all-round destination in the region.
According to the Director of Tourism for Grand Bahama, Mr. David Johnson, this northern Bahama island is being well received. But he wants more Bahamians to take advantage of the modern amenities available here and make this island their home.
“We want to see about 10,000 more Bahamians move here in the next two years, and I think a lot will come from Nassau,” says Mr. Johnson. “This community can handle a half a million people.”
The five-day 25th annual Caribbean Tourism Conference opened at Our Lucaya resort on Sunday. Its theme is “Reinventing Caribbean Tourism.”
Freeport – dubbed “the Magic City” of the Bahamas with its glamorous hotels and casinos, modern infrastructure, immaculate environment and attractive neighbourhoods – has been the economic mainstay of this island for more than a quarter of a century.
Recently, tourism officials have been placing more emphasis on marketing Grand Bahama itself.
“There’s no question about it,” says Mr. Johnson, “we have been reinvented. We have gotten rid of Freeport in a sense. We are Grand Bahama Island.
Freeport had a bad image in the marketplace over a period of time as a destination that did not promote a total island experience, and was seen as a place to go for a short casino gambling experience.
“We decided that we were going to position this destination as Grand Bahama Island and not just Freeport. The magic has been repositioned to Grand Bahama Island, which is a far more diversified experience and one that is much better received by customers.
“A new thrill and a new experience are associated with the new Grand Bahama Island. We are launching it as a new destination and with that a lot of new sizzle.”
In West End, for example, there is the Old Bahama Bay Resort and Marina; bonefishing lodges have taken off in a big way; and eco tourism or soft-adventure experiences that are found generally in the other Family Islands is taking root.
As host of the Caribbean Tourism Conference, The Bahamas has the opportunity to reassert its leadership in the Caribbean as a principal destination, Mr. Johnson says.
And Grand Bahama, he adds, is being showcased as the newest conference destination in the region.
“We have got this new facility (at Our Lucaya), and it hasn’t been exposed to this audience,” he says. “This is a tremendous opportunity to position The Bahamas’ leadership and Grand Bahama’s new facilities as a destination in this segment of the market.”
Hotel workers were also challenged to perform at a high standard while “under the eyes of the world οΎ– the more than 850 sophisticated travelers attending the conference. They were challenge to perform as they never did before,” he says.
Moreover, the conference injected business into the community at a time when tourism generally is slow.
“We are bringing in revenues in an offbeat month in the Grand Bahama economy at a time when the market conditions are generally soft,” Mr. Johnson says.
The “greatest value” of this of hosting the conference, he says, is that the audience consists of global Press persons who have been exposed to the new product.
“We have now extended our message to people who did not come here,” says Mr. Johnson. “Their audience worldwide will now learn about the experience of Grand Bahama through them. The execution has been fantastic, the feedback has been very positive, and I think, in one word, they are ‘surprised’ at what we have.”
Mr. Johnson also tells of investor confidence returning to this island.
A new $45million airport is being built, there is a new passenger terminal at Lucayan Harbour, the Sun Spree Resort rose from the former Princess Properties, in the downtown Mall area the Royal Oasis has upgraded its facilities, and there are the Holiday Inn Town Plaza and the Best Western Castaways Resort.
Another golf course has opened as Grand Bahama “asserts its place as the golf capital of the region,” Mr. Johnson says. “The quality of golf and the availability and the cost to play golf for the customer here is the best value in the region. Nobody can challenge that.
“The investment is driven by the belief that the potential here was never even scratched, and that in the long run this is a sustainable investment. This is an island that is just beginning to grow.”
Employment opportunities are opening in various sectors of the hospitality industry.
“We still have more people employed than we had before these projects were developed in the hotel sector,” says Mr. Johnson. “We had to recruit outside of Grand Bahama when (Our Lucaya) opened.
“Business has been soft since 9/11, although we had a strong winter. The world economy, the US economy are soft, so we are not growing the number of jobs at the pace we did a year ago, but we have not had any massive shutdowns or layoffs.
“My anticipation is that by winter, February and beyond, the business, with the new services that are being brought in place, is going to grow again and the demand is going to result in more people being hired in the restaurants and other areas to cope with the additional business.
“But we are stable, and we have owners who are committed to the long term. Even when yields were declining, they made investments in their resorts, they made investments in their people, in their training skills, and they are sticking in this for the long run.”
By Gladstone Thurston, Bahamas Information Services
