Minister at AA Civil Rights Museum

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Obie Wilchcombe recently visited Memphis, Tennessee to attend the 51st Annual Session of the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC).

 

During his visit, Minister Wilchcombe toured the African American Civil Rights Museum; he is pictured viewing a Klu Klux Klan display at the museum.

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Tourism Minister Launches Bahamas Speed Week 2012

Bahamas Speed Week organizers have added more components to this year’s event in hopes of achieving its five-year plan to make it the “must do social event” of the year.

One priority for these wealthy gearheads is the inclusion of vendors at Arawak Cay. Organizers are working feverishly to develop and improve Speed Week, which means, among other things, creating a race route that would allow spectators easy access to the vendors during the race.

Instead of racing through Arawak Cay, participants will drive their antique race cars behind the restaurants.

At the official launch during at a press conference yesterday, Minister of Tourism, Obie Wilchcombe stressed the value of having the support of the local community.

“I believe your involvement of the vendors and the Bahamian people generally, is without question, the right thing to do,” the Minister said. “If the people aren’t involved then you are likely not be as successful as you want to be”.

Minister Wilchcombe said his Ministry will make greater contributions in marketing the event to ensure international exposure is maximized. He also mentioned that tourism officials are aware of the ripple effect Speed Week can have resulting in more investments for the country.

Bahamas Speed Week 2012, which is a series of social, racing and cultural events, will be held between November 24 and December 2. This time period was chosen to generate business during this typically slow tourism season.

According to Speed Week President, Jimmie Lowe “everything is bigger, better, faster and more ambitious this year starting with the schedule”.

Speed Week 2012 will kick off with a concert on November 24 and the Miss Bahamas Speed Week pageant will be held the following day. Organizers have also increased go-karting activities, which Mr. Lowe said, is how many race drivers get started.
Other activities include a 007 Island Tour, Pictect Gala Ball and Auction of Promises, which will raise funds for Bahamian charities.

Ticket prices to watch the race at Arawak Cay are 30 dollars for general admission.

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Harbour Island Tourism Sector Resilient Despite Economy

HARBOUR Island’s tourism sector has been holding its own despite a slow economy according to Betty Bethel, tourism general manager of North Eleuthera and Harbour Island who said that some operators had reported numbers exceeding last year’s performance.

“Harbour Island does a very good job of marketing itself. It’s established itself as a high end destination. I won’t say it is recession proof but certainly while the rest of the Bahamas suffered from the slow economy Harbour Island has continued to hold its own,” said Bethel.

“Many of the operators expected not to have as good a season as they did coming off the slow economy but they have reported to me that their numbers have been very good and in some instances exceed last year. It’s a resilient area of our tourism product in the Bahamas and it’s an area that we always have to pay a lot of attention to because it’s where the revenue that’s generated from tourism is highest, in that part of the tourism product,” said Bethel.

Bethel added: “It’s certainly right up there with the revenue that’s generated across the board in the Bahamas. While we have small boutique properties you are looking at average room rates of a minimum of $250 a night and that’s kind of your high end budget properties so the resorts use the slow season when they close around late August and September to refurbish their properties, give vacations and do training so they could maintain their standards, maintain their rates and service delivery.”

Bethel said that ensuring that visitor experience matched the destination was important.

“My initiatives are really to make sure that the experience that the visitors have match the destination and Harbour Island is a really high end product. Right now we are engaged in Bahamas ‘host training’ to elevate the service levels again to complement the hotel product that’s on the island. I am spending time looking for activities that really meet the needs of the customers. One of them I have identified is an art and wine festival and I will be partnering with Bahamas National Trust so it will take place on the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The response from artists throughout Eleuthera and around the Bahamas has been overwhelming.”

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

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Ministry Allocates $20-$30k To Boost Small Hotel Vision

The Ministry of Tourism is allocating $20,000-$30,000 to help provide small hotel properties, particularly in the southern Bahamas, with the technical support to improve their marketing and on-line visibility.

David Johnson, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, said these resorts were challenged by the lack of an effective on-line distribution system.

He added that $20,000-$30,000 was being allocated to a fund to provide the necessary support.

Mr Johnson told Tribune Business: “With the southern islands there are some distribution issues for the smaller hotels, and we have committed that we will contribute to a fund that will enable them to have a much more effective distribution system and, with that, improve their marketing because awareness is also a challenge for them.

“It’s not much more than $20,000 or $30,000 to provide them with the technical support to get them in the digital realm with their booking solutions and their website. That is what we are talking about. We have agreed that in principal. This is really for the smaller hotels within the Family Islands, and most of them are in the south-east islands.”

Charity Armbrister, tourism director for the central and southern Bahamas, acknowledged that web-driven booking engines were a challenge.

“When visitors go on-line to book a flight to the Bahamas, and then they want to connect to one of the islands, there is no real global booking engine for them and so they don’t get to see Pineapple Air, Western Air or Southern Air for example,” said Ms Armbrister.

“We are still struggling with a lot of the further southern islands, and that’s largely because of the challenge we have with airlift. Until we can really fix the airlift into the southern islands it’s going to be difficult for them to be where we think they ought to be. We have persons coming in from the UK, for example, and the connecting flights are just not there and they have to overnight in Nassau. That’s really not what they want to do. They are coming into the island and they want to get there as quickly and as inexpensively as they can.”

Mr Johnson told Tribune Business: “The airlift solution will take some time, but with these rebate programmes we are offering we are looking to make an adjustment because their airfares are even higher than that of the other islands. We are reviewing how we can make an adjustment to the amount of the rebate in order to make them more competitive.”

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

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Junior Minister begins tourism mentorship

Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe began a mentorship process with Junior Minister Iant’a Stubbs by introducing her to his senior staff. Minister Wilchcombe, Tourism Director General David Johnson and Permanent Secretary Dr. Patricia Rodgers met with Ms. Stubbs, welcoming her to the Ministry of Tourism.

Ms. Stubbs emerged as the leader of the annual Junior Minister of Tourism competition in April, earning the national title and entitling her to understudy Minister Wilchcombe for a year. She is a student of Anatol Rodgers Secondary School. As a good mentor, Minister Wilchcombe pointed out that Ms. Stubbs’ school carries the name of Dr. Rodgers’ mother.

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Bahamas explores film collaborations

The Bahamas Film and Television Commission entered talks with film commissions from around the world recently, with possible film collaborations in view.

The Bahamas was one of the delegates participating in the II Encounter of Filmmakers from Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean and their Diasporas (Cinema ABCD), which was held July 15-18 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The meetings brought relevant organizations together to focused on the mechanisms that would enable co-productions between the countries of the region and their various diaspora. This would result in more film and television products being developed for screening in member states.

Delegates also concentrated on consolidation of cinematography from Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean to encourage their governments to pledge full support through the articulation of cultural policies that promote and support production, distribution and exhibition.

Countries participating in the gathering included Aruba, Angola, Barbados, Burkina Fasso, Cuba, Mali, Trinidad & Tobago, Egypt, Cape Verde, Senegal, Mozambique, Jamaica, Haiti, Suriname, Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe. Prominent actors attending the event included American actors Tim Reid and Danny Glover along with Dominican actor, Juan Fernandez. Dominican president, Leonel Fernandez also made several appearances during the meetings.

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Tour teaches tourism

NASSAU (July 20, 2012) – Participants in the Ministry of Tourism’s Summer Employment Program got more familiar with the tourism product through a tour of Nassau’s historic landmarks.

The tour included visits to Fort Charlotte, Fort Fincastle, the Queen’s Staircase and the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, where the summer staff took part in the “Paint Like Amos Ferguson” activity. The Summer Employment Program concludes on July 27, after its participants would have gained substantial knowledge about The Bahamas’ tourism industry.

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