The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A top Ministry of Tourism official yesterday said The Bahamas will resume "outreaches" to Asia and Latin America once borders re-open in a bid to further diversify its tourism base.

But Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, told a Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants webinar that this nation's desire to expand into other markets will not lose sight of the reality that the US will always be its prime visitor source.

“I think, particularly as we look at the 2008 global recession and the impact that it had on the US economy. and as a consequence the impact on visitor arrival numbers, it really brought home this notion that we need to diversify," Mrs Jibrilu said.

"[But] in the context of saying that we cannot ignore, avoid or diminish in any way, shape or form, that our competitive advantage is our proximity to the US. The eastern seaboard is only 45 minutes to two hours away from The Bahamas.

"This is an advantage that many, many global destinations would do anything to have, and no matter what we say or what we do, we should not move away from the fact that this will always remain our number one source market."

Mrs Jibrilu, though, said the Ministry of Tourism understood the value provided by visitors that come from Canada, Europe and from Latin America. "They may be less in numbers, but they stay longer, they visit the Family Islands, so you see that trickle-down effect into the economy throughout the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and the economic impact of visitor spend is greater," she added.

"As a result of that, once we get beyond this, and once international borders open up, we will continue doing what we started doing a few years ago in terms of the Ministry of Tourism doing outreaches to Asia, where there is a huge, robust market with a huge interest in the Caribbean, but the Bahamas in particular.

"Latin America has a huge interest in the Caribbean, Cancun and the DR (Dominican Republic) in particular, so these are our advantages, and it is up to us to capitalise on them and facilitate making it an easy stay for people to come over and stay with us.”

Ms Jibrulu added that it was time for the Family Islands "to seize the moment", especially its small hotels and Airbnb-style vacation rentals, and provide the socially-distanced vacation experience that many persons are seeking amid COVID-19.