The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Visitors arrivals to Exuma are up roughly six per cent year-to-date over 2012, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general telling the Exuma Business Outlook that the island was experiencing “reasonable growth” with the exception of a 5 per cent drop in sea arrivals.

David Johnson said Exuma’s tourism industry had rebounded since the closure of the Four Seasons hotel in 2009. “We have seen steady growth in the tourism sector,” he added.

“We rebounded from the year when Four Seasons closed to receiving some 33,737 visitors in 2011. That march forward continued, and in 2012 we closed with 38,419 visitors. We have seen a roughly 6 per cent gain over 2012 year-to-date.”

Mr Johnson added: “When we compare Exuma’s performance to the rest of the Caribbean and even the Bahamas, Exuma is showing reasonable growth, although these numbers are reasonable with the exception of our sea arrivals.

“We have seen a 5 per cent dip in sea arrivals, something we must restore very quickly because those happen to be very high-end visitors. We need to sweeten the pot to continue to grow the sea arrivals to Exuma.”

Mr Johnson added that Exuma was still underachieving when assessing the potential of the island chain. He said the Ministry of Tourism wanted to attract resorts to the islands with the drive and marketing power to be sustainable in the long-term.

“Mayaguana and some of the southeast islands are starving because there are small resorts there having a very hard time competing with small resorts elsewhere because of a lack of development,” Mr Johnson said.

“Exuma is still not where it needs to be, but it has a lot to do with our ability to reduce the cost of either fuelling aircraft or turning around aircraft. We want to attract persons into the industry and investors in the sector who are not looking to make a quick buck. If they do, generally it won’t last long. It takes time. There is a lot of infrastructure development that a resort has to undertake and there is training. We need persons committed to the island.

“Unless we have critical mass, air ticket costs get even higher than they are. Exuma is fortunate to have more favourable air fares than any other island besides Nassau and, perhaps, Abaco. If you look at travel between the other islands and the US, the air fares are almost comparable to Europe.”

Mr Johnson said product diversity was also crucial. “A diversity of product is what we should be seeking. Let’s find the right balance. We should look to develop bed and breakfasts, and there are small boutique resorts that we can attract.”