Prime Minister Perry Christie said he would get personally involved in executing a “vision” he has for religious tourism in The Bahamas, believing this could counteract the impact on the nation’s chief industry from the downturn in visitor arrivals and room rates produced by a weak global economy and the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The prime minister said he saw this segment of the US tourism market as having real potential for The Bahamas, as the faith-based sector was not distracted by factors such as safety concerns regarding travel. Ministers of religion were also able to make immediate decisons on where and when a conference would be held, providing a more stable market.
“As prime minister I have decided to do this [promote religious tourism] because it produces instantaneous results,” he said. “I am prime minister. I am not the minister of tourism, I am not Cynthia “Mother” Pratt, who is a devout disciple and therefore could have been dedicated to this task. I want to reinforce the point that circumstances and time require us to get out of the box to cause things to happen. As the chief executive of the country recognises what’s happening in the tourism sector, I have joined…hopefully to have a dynamic impact and to cause things to happen that the continuous inflow of capital into The Bahamas can be sustained.”
Source: Yolanda Deleveaux, The Tribune
