Some of the millions of dollars spent on attracting visitors would be better spent cleaning up Bay Street, a talk show guest said Sunday.
Appearing on the radio show Parliament Street, Vernice Walkine, deputy director at the Ministry of Tourism, said Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe was "furious" over the amount of money being spent on product advertising instead of on improving the product.
Jessica Robertson and Fayne Thompson hosted the show, which focused on plans to revitalize downtown Nassau.
A listener asked how much money has been spent by the ministry on advertisements for the year, to which Ms Walkine replied, "A couple of million dollars." She added that there is a proposal to direct some money to give the downtown area a facelift, making it more appealing to the 1.8 million cruiseship passengers who visit the vicinity annually.
"Obie Wilchcombe is so furious about product improvement, because he, like the rest of us in the Ministry of Tourism, we are fully aware that all the money we spend promoting the island of The Bahamas overseas and visitors come here and have a horrible time. They are going to go home and tell everyone who would listen to them about what a horrible place The Bahamas is, not Nassau. The Bahamas, in extension, becomes a horrible place to visit," she said.
With the hiring of a new advertising agency this year as part of a $15-million-dollar campaign, the ministry hopes ads will be "more truthful" and give travelers a reason to visit the Bahama Islands.
After numerous complaints of a dirty downtown area, Ms Walkine said, the government proposes to steamclean and scrub sidewalks.
"When one area is hit, the whole country gets a black eye. Imagine how you feel when visitors come in and think: 'What type of people are they if they can't even keep this one little street clean.' Our downtown is not that big," she said. "It's embarrassing. It's humiliating and we plan to do something about it."
She said the Ministry of Tourism intends to launch a massive cleanup, livening up and transforming the downtown area after the groundbreaking for the new straw market later this summer or early in the fall.
Frank Comito, executive director of the Nassau Tourism & Development Board, was also a guest on the show. He gave cruise lines credit for "putting excitement" in their advertisements of the straw market.
One aspect that has been overlooked, a caller said, is the lack of access for handicapped shoppers on Bay Street.
"When they see advertisements of Bay Street, they get suckered in thinking that 'It's Better in The Bahamas.' When they come here they can't get into most of the shops on Bay Street. The sidewalks are not as accessible as the boardwalk along Cable Beach. That is hypocritical."
The Bahamas, in the minds of the disabled tourist that visit Bay Street, is guilty of inequality, said the caller.
Realizing that aspect should be addressed, Mr. Comito said that while not all Bay Street businesses cater to the disabled, some do.
To widen the options for Bahamian culture and research, several government and private agencies will meet today at Clifton Cay to begin clearing and cleaning up at the landmark, and are exploring several proposals by private investors to develop the outer islands through tourism and business.
Ms Walkine stressed the importance of the Emeralds Bay resort thriving, saying that as the second Four Seasons resort in the Caribbean, it has to be successful in order to generate more investment and upscale facilities.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
