The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

There were “no shenanigans” involved in the Ministry Of Tourism’s tender for an online booking solution, the former minister disclosing that no contract was ever signed with the company central to the ‘controversy’.

Telling this newspaper that last week’s statement to the House of Assembly by his successor, Obie Wilchcombe, had “unequivocally” vindicated his actions and cleared his name, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said the Ministry of Tourism had looked at 18 other online booking vendors before turning to Destination Solutions 360.

Drawing on a report that looked into the relationship between Mr Vanderpool-Wallace and Tourism Marketing Alliance (TMA), Mr Wilchcombe last week said three persons tied to the company also had an interest in Destinations Solutions 360. TMA, as the Ministry of Tourism’s marketing advisor, was also involved in reviewing the online booking solutions bid, effectively meaning it was assessing a tender on which its senior executives were bidding.

This was the most serious allegation/finding stemming from the investigation by accountant Anthony Kikivarakis, assisted by KRyS Global.

However, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace vehemently denied that such a ‘conflict of interest’ had occurred under his watch, and said Ministry of Tourism officials besides himself were “completely and fully aware” of eveything that happened with the online booking tender.

The former minister, who was also previously the director-general, reiterated that the whole episode stemmed from “resistance” within the Ministry to his efforts to bring the Bahamas’ tourism marketing to “the leading edge”.

While he refused to identify those behind the so-called ‘resistance’, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said they were “clinging to the past” and seeking “to exercise rigid control of marketing, often costing Bahamian taxpayers unnecessary millions”.

He indicated to Tribune Business that the opposition surrounded his drive to make sure the Ministry of Tourism embraced the digital/online media age, culminating in the furore surrounding the appointments of TMA and Thomas Crockett as the Ministry’s chief marketing officer.

And Mr Vanderpool-Wallace also hit out at the way the investigation was conducted, questioning why Mr Kikivarakis and KRyS Global had not audited the accounts of the three companies involved - TMA, Destination Solutions 360 and ICON - plus interviewed the three executives named. He described this as “grossly and inherently unfair” in the context of an investigation.

Asked by Tribune Business about whether TMA, Destination Solutions 360 and their executives had become embroiled in a ‘conflict of interest’ over the online booking tender, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace replied: “Without going into the detail, absolutely not.

“Nothing happened within that, involving that, that people in the Ministry of Tourism were not completely and fully aware of...... In the fullness of time, you will see there were no shenanigans going on. It’s just people resisting particular directions and creating linkages that don’t exist.

“The Ministry of Tourism had looked at 18 other vendors before we came to Destination Solutions 360. The contract with them was never signed. It was recommended to me but never signed, because of some concern over whether it could perform.”

As for the allegations that TMA was ‘a shell company’, and that Destination Solutions 360 was newly-established and had ‘no track record’ prior to bidding, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said it was normal practice throughout the business world to incorporate special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for specific purposes.

Large corporations and experienced executives formed them for specific reasons, such as bidding on particular contracts, he added.

“The second company [Destination Solutions 360] was formed to create a particular proposal,” Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said. “That’s an historical practice that happens everywhere.”

The former minister added that the Ministry of Tourism had never previously terminated a contract due to a company’s Board of Directors composition or corporate structure, explaining this was why he resisted suggestions from officials and the Ministry’s US legal advisors that the TMA agreement be terminated.

He told Tribune Business: “Never in the history of my time at the Ministry of Tourism has a contract been terminated because someone did not like the Board of Directors. I’ve never heard of them being eliminated because of the Board of Directors or structure of the company.”

Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said the key was to examine past performance, and whether the bidder and its executives had the track record, expertise and resources to deliver what they promised - on time, and on budget.

“This business of examining whether I met the people, know the people, whether the structure is right, never happened before,” he added. “There were contracts I and the permanent secretary signed where we’ve never met the people, because we had faith in the people making the recommendations.”

Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said he was involved in the review of more than 50 contracts during his tenure as Minister of Tourism, adding that he was open to charges of negligence if he did not participate. He suggested that the TMA, ICON and Destination Solutions 360 contracts were “cherry picked to serve the purposes of individuals intent on creating a cloud of innunendo”.

While Mr Wilchcombe read and tabled a summary of the Kikivarakis/KRyS Global report in the House of Assembly, it seems odd that the full report itself was not tabled. Apart from implying that Mr Vanderpool-Wallace’s relationships with certain TMA executives may have influenced the Ministry of Tourism’s actions, the report appears to have fallen short of finding a ‘smoking gun’ for use against the former Minister, and has the appearance of an effort that failed to locate what it hoped.

“There are no specific allegations directed against me,” Mr Vanderpool-Wallace told Tribune Business. “The allegations were headed in another direction.” Asked whether he felt the report had vindicated him, he replied: “Unequivocally yes”, given that it had taken seven months to compile and nothing had happened.

Given that he had spent 34 years in tourism marketing and promotion, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said it would be odd if he had not formed relationships with persons in these fields.

He pointed out that Ministry of Tourism officials, such as the director-general and permanent secretary, would have developed similar links and known vendors before they signed contracts with the Ministry.

Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said it was a former director of Booz Allen, the consulting firm, who recommended that the Ministry of Tourism hire a chief marketing officer and online booking solutions provider for all Bahamian hotels “in order to improve our competitiveness during the great recession”.

As for the $15 million ICON contract, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said this was an ‘option’ and not set in stone. Therefore, there was no penalty if it was not used or terminated.

“Both the then-permanent secretary [Hyacinth Winder-Pratt] and current director-general [David Johnson] know this,” he added. “They both know it arose to cover additional funds that they themselves requested for Grand Lucayan. The terms of the contract were never exercised, so there is no obligation and no penalty.”

Despite suggesting that the investigation resulted from the Ministry of Tourism’s internal marketing strategy debate becoming “politicised” in the run-up to the May 2012 general election, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said he did not believe he was being targeted by a “political witchhunt”.