According to Tourism Director General Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, the industry is reaping favourable results in return.
Addressing hundreds in the business community earlier this week during the 13th annual Bahamas Business Outlook one-day seminar at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort. Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace disclosed that the country stands poised to accept a major Public Relations award for innovation during its weather conference last year.
Though remaining tight lipped on the details, the Director General was quick to add that The Bahamas is also expected to win six additional awards next week for its marketing initiatives during another industry meeting. The country will also, he said, be featured on the cover of a major international travel magazine within the next few months.
Local marketing campaigns have been equally encouraging.
“We are beginning to use the immigration card data a great deal more for our marketing initiatives and we now know which travel agencies are selling The Bahamas,” he said. “In fact, there is a travel agency called Expedia that is already number five in terms of the total number of sales for an international travel agency. The only ones that are ahead of this are agency chains.”
Further explaining the progress his industry has made since addressing the group last year, the Director General disclosed that 10 of the 12 initiatives outlined at that time are already underway including last year’s opening of the Welcome Centre on Prince George Dock, the launch of a booking website and the enhancement of public/private sector cooperation, which he said, is progressing far better than it was “yesterday or the day before that.”
Tourism officials will be promoting this initiative even further during the first ever national tourism conference scheduled to take place later this month. The conclave is expected to bring together tourism and hospitality workers for five days of discussions covering a wide range of issues ranging from promotion of the destination to the control of its costs.
Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that the only two initiatives that are outstanding are the redevelopment of Cable Beach and the development of the country’s ports. He is confident however that those issues will be addressed over the next 18 months, when his 30-month plan expires.
Prime Minister Perry Christie recently announced that he is talking to an investor interested in pumping $1 billion into Cable Beach. He said the government and the investor are reportedly in the final stages of negotiations and a Heads of Agreement is being prepared for signature for further development of the strip.
Such good news comes at a time when The Bahamas is been criticized as one of the higher cost destinations in the region, a reputation tourism officials say they wish not to continue.
The Director General has previously pointed out the need for the country to rein in all the costs it possibly can in order to become more competitive on the world stage.
But in spite of the setbacks, for the very first time, the local tourism industry welcomed more than 4 1/2 million visitors last year. Stopover visitors/air arrivals grew by nearly two percent even though there were a number of hotel rooms out of order during that period.
But according to Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace there is still the need to remain cautious.
He said: “One of the things that is happening is as the cost of a land vacation continues to go up, we are finding that there are a large number of people that come off the cruise ships to The Bahamas only to this country – not to any other port. So we are now substituting people because the deal to come on a cruise ship is so much better than staying on land. And we know that the contribution to our economy from the cruise passenger is not as high as land visitors. So we have to be very careful how we continue to grow our business.”
The Director General added that The Bahamas however remains fortunate, particularly as it relates to concerns of consuming natural resources.
“We happen to be in an industry where every time one comes to The Bahamas for a vacation, you don’t take some of the sand, the sun away because there is an inexhaustible supply of it, as long as we continue to preserve it,” he said.
Having played an effective role in the globalization process has sealed The Bahamas the number three spot in the Western hemisphere in terms of tourism per capita income, just behind the United States and Canada, according to Vanderpool-Wallace.
But according to the tourist executive, with the available global opportunities, it is possible for The Bahamas to move from being number three to number one by the end of the decade.
“In the not to distant future, we’re going to have a situation where Mr. & Mrs. Jones are going to get a video email thanking them for completing their immigration card and welcoming them back to The Bahamas for another experience, ” Mr. Vanderpool Wallace enthusiastically explained.
“They will be able to go on line and download copies of Bahamian songs, see Bahamian dances that they can practice before they get here. With the simple press of a button, when the taxi driver is taking them to their hotel, he will alert the doorman that they are on their way. When these persons arrive to their rooms there is another message from the Tourism Minister welcoming them to the country.”
Fast forwarding to the couple’s return home, the Director General said Mr. & Mrs. Jones will be greeted by an Island Scene magazine featuring added opportunities in The Bahamas, along with a thank you email from their taxi driver.
“All of these things are possible,” he said. “The difference is they have already begun, but there is a catch, which is The Bahamas may not have all of the people needed to execute such a plan.”
Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
