The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

WITH the backdrop of the Miami Dolphins’ dwindling playoff hopes and exciting finish in the penultimate home game of the 2014 season, the Bahamas took centre stage halftime at Sun Life Stadium Sunday afternoon in a major sports tourism campaign.

For the second consecutive year, the “Bahama Bash Zone” at the 100 level of the stadium brought a taste of the Bahamas to thousands of football fans as the Dolphins took a 37-35 win over the Minnesota Vikings yesterday.

The season long promotion was featured at every Dolphins home game throughout the 2014 season, the second of a five-year partnership between the franchise and the Ministry of Tourism.

The “Bahamas Bash Zone” featured several posters from the “Behold” campaign featuring supermodel Shakara Ledar and former NBA player Rick Fox, draped throughout the 9,000 square foot area.

Stadium fans were also able to lounge in beach chairs as they watched the game on flatscreen televisions in the zone’s viewing area, or entered one of many promotions at the Ministry of Tourism’s administrative kiosk where they were eligible to claim prizes ranging from t-shirts to trips on the Norwegian cruise line.

Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said it was another integral step in the development of sports tourism. “We had a captive audience in the stadium today, 60-70,000 people and we got a chance to talk to them to see how we can utilise the Miami Dolphins brand and that franchise to benefit the country,” Wilchcombe said. “We are doing it not only for the Miami Dolphins and Miami Heat but also for the Panthers and other sports teams in the area and it will all help to develop our sports tourism product in the country.”

Greg Rolle, director of sports tourism, said the impact the Bahamas has had on the South Florida area continues to pay dividends.

Our plan is to continue to monopolise South Florida. It is the minister’s vision to stage these high end mega events with these partnerships with major franchises and as we move forward we will see more opportunities for the Bahamas,” he said. “A part of the minister’s vision is to work from the top down with these big ticket items. With these major events people will know about the Bahamas and this level of exposure can only have a positive impact on the country and what we can produce in this industry.”

The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival was also on display with a quartet of models throughout the Bahamas Bash Zone, dressed in prototype carnival costumes.

Fans were entered to win a trip to the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival, May 7-9 in New Providence, or a trip to Grand Bahama April 17-18.

In year one, Jason Miller, director of corporate partnerships for the Miami Dolphins and Sun Life Stadium, said the first year of the partnership between his organisation and the Bahamas was just the beginning of what he hopes will be a successful relationship for years to come.

“The partnership between the Dolphins and the Bahamas is designed to do several things, the first is to bring our two organisations together in a co-branding effort and what you see today is just one example of that. So our goal is to get people to come here for each home game and kind of experience the imaging and island experience. That is why you see some of the furniture that we brought in and some of the music that we play here. It also allows the Bahamas to do some data capture with some of our fans so we feel that it benefits both programmes.

“On top of branded areas such as this there are several things that happen throughout the stadium across the televisions that brand our relationship between the Bahamas and the Dolphins so it is truly an exciting partnership. It is a five-year partnership, one that we hope will continue for many years after that. It’s great for us to be able to offer some of the experiences the Bahamas has to our advantage.”