The Tribune

BY NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

TOURISM Minister Obie Wilchcombe said that the government was moving to ensure that Nassau’s cruise port is operated in a “more efficient manner” similar to the management of the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), noting that renovations to Festival Place are set to commence.

“We are working with the vendors at Festival Place. Work begins on the 8th (last Friday) in terms of the roof and the internal work will begin soon thereafter. We are working to ensure that the port is run in a more efficient way and we bring some new methodology to the running of it equivalent to what we have at the airport with NAD.

“We are going to be travelling very soon to meet with various groups that have perfected ports to get their views. Some have expressed an interest in being a part of what we are doing in the Bahamas and so we are looking now at that,” Minister Wilchcombe recently told Tribune Business.

The minister went on to note that while tourism numbers were showing overall improvement there was still much work to be done. “The reality for the Bahamas is we are a tourism destination on the incline. We are moving back to where we used to be. Our numbers are looking better than they have looked in a long time. We need more airlift but we are getting some. We need to ensure that we have consistency and stability throughout the country. Grand Bahama is on the rise again.”

“Our tourism numbers are doing pretty good but we still have work to do. I’m comfortable with the progress, the team and the effort but I’m not going to be satisfied. We have a lot more to do. I want to get not only the numbers up but the spend up also. We are seeing occupancy levels increase at the hotels and we are seeing the average daily rates increase,” said Mr Wilchcombe.

The Bahamas received 1.8m passengers over the first quarter of 2014, highlighted by a “slight rise” in air arrivals, according to the Central Bank. However the growth in sea arrivals “slowed” for the same period. The Central Bank, in its latest Quarterly Economic Review, noted that preliminary indicators suggested “modest gains” in the nation’s tourism output.

“The total number of arrivals firmed marginally by 0.8 per cent to 1.8m over the first quarter of 2014, a reversal from a 3.3 per cent decline a year earlier,” the Central Bank reported. “In terms of the components, the high-value added air segment rose slightly by 0.2 per cent to 345,338, vis-a-vis a 3.4 per cent contraction in 2013; however, growth in sea visitors slowed to 0.9 per cent from 5.0 per cent in the in the prior period, for a total of 1,413,332 passengers.”

When separated by port of entry, arrivals to New Providence rose by 2.4 per cent to one million, although below the 9.8 per cent growth in 2013.

“This was primarily on account of a 2.4 per cent decrease in sea traffic, which outstripped the 4.1 per cent rise in air passengers,” the report said. “Family Island tourists advanced by 6.5 per cent to 0.6 million, a turnaround from a 3.8 per cent reduction a year earlier, as gains in sea visitors, of 7.6 per cent, overshadowed a 2.5 per cent falloff in air passengers.”