Tourism officials in Grand Bahama are taking a new approach to promoting the destination.
“We will focus more on adventure tourism and vacation ownership, thereby increasing the average length of stay by 20 percent from five to six days,” said David Johnson, deputy director general of Tourism.
Tourism officials said in a press statement that they are working with private sector partners to plan Grand Bahama’s course and re-brand the island, while heeding the recommendations of past visitors on immigration cards.
Mr. Johnson said that adjusting the tourism focus on Grand Bahama will naturally attract visitors who will purchase their vacation ‘residences’, such as second homes, timeshares and condominiums.
The traditional focus has been on visitors who rent hotel rooms.
Grand Bahama tourism officials want to market the island as “a strong family travel destination.”
George Provenzano, director of sales at Island Seas, a timeshare property on the island, told the Bahama Journal that promoting timeshare vacations is a good idea.
He said timeshare sales affect the entire community positively.
“People who come here (as timeshare visitors) stay here for a longer period of time,” Mr. Provenzano said.
“The demographics suggest they have money and [when] they spend more money that affects everybody. [When] they’re going to the grocery store they’re using the taxis, buses and car rentals. It filters to the whole economy.
“These overnight stays are just coming in for a night [and leaving] and not really spending a lot of money.”
Todd Pinder, project director for timeshare sales at Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach, agreed, saying that the timeshare industry is, “as vital to the economy as tourism, part and parcel.”
He said Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach is confident that Grand Bahama’s economy will rebound.
“The company is fairly certain and comfortable with the projections that the market [in Grand Bahama] is going to be if not robust at the very least sustainable,” Mr. Pinder said.
“We have received approval to begin construction on approximately100 high-end units that we are going to gear toward what is called fractional ownership where persons can come in and purchase throughout the year.”
Those units are going to average somewhere in the vicinity of $350,000 to $600,000, he said.
“They are going to come with every modern convenience conceivable and decked-out to the highest standards,” Mr. Pinder told the Journal.
Mr. Johnson projected that seven out of 10 properties being built in the near future will be owned and pre-purchased by the users as opposed to the more traditional resort.
The Ginn Development in West End is one such project.
Bobby Ginn, CEO of the Ginn Development, has told the Bahama Journal that the $3.7 billion project will be extremely beneficial to the island because its visitors will actually be owners of the units.
“We operate just like a hotel, except our rooms are owned by owners. It allows us to build better rooms than a hotel,” said Mr. Ginn during the signing of the agreement last month.
“We can have longer stays because they are two and three bedrooms units. Our lobbies, casinos and water parks and golf courses and restaurants are just like a hotel. The major difference is we are going to have 5,000 to 6,000 owners who are going to be paying annual dues to keep the place.”
Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe told the Journal recently that he is optimistic about the future of Grand Bahama.
“I know in 10 years we’re going to be bringing in large numbers to Grand Bahama,” he said.
“I am aware of not only Ginn, but other properties that we should be announcing very shortly. We have some things on the drawing board and we’re working with investors and we believe that Grand Bahama is heading toward a period of time where the tourism component will play an even greater role in the development and growth of Grand Bahama.”
By: Daphne McIntosh, The Bahama Journal
