A local news article has the minister of tourism and aviation telling a reporter that it was the closing of the Royal Oasis and Nassau Beach Hotels, and the elimination of their 1,200 mid-priced rooms, as the reason why tourist arrival statistics have plumetted.
Bahamas Minister of Tourism, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, says the closure of those two hotels left the Bahamas as the “most exposed destination by far” in the Caribbean when the recession hit.
Vanderpool-Wallace, who despite his high-level job has no business or marketing experience, thinks the lack of hotel rooms “blunted” the Bahamas’ competitive edge during a four-year period when stopover visitors were seeking discounts/deals on room rates, saying this nation was “caught on the wrong foot” from 2008 onwards.
Nowhere in the discussion was the subject of crime, lousy service or lack of attractions ever mentioned. Yet, those are the reasons most often cited for the lack of desire to visit The Bahamas.
The Ministry of Tourism is always interested in getting more air capacity and hotel rooms, instead of focusing on improving the tourism product.
Unless and until we make it truly “Better in The Bahamas” our tourism industry will continue to decline, no matter how many rooms we have available, or how many planes fly into the country.
