The Tribune

THE Family Islands have a new destination marketing advocate with the launch of the Domestic Tourist, the island-hopping travel blog of Bahamian journalist Noelle Nicolls.

At the start of the year, the Domestic Tourist formed an online content partnership with BahamaGo, the premier online booking engine for domestic travel, to bring much needed exposure to the Family Islands.

Ms Nicolls successfully won the bid for the domain name www.domestictourist.com, which was the final hurdle before completing the content agreement. The travel blog is now live on its permanent domain.

“The Domestic Tourist is my Anthony Bourdain-inspired alter-ego. (He hosts one of the greatest travel shows to ever broadcast on The Travel Channel). The blog chronicles my island-hopping adventures across the archipelago. I share authentic stories about the people and culture of the islands, and provide fresh perspective on the many places to explore and things to do,” said Ms Nicolls, the creative mind behind the brand.

“The Family Islands are so underexposed it is a crying shame, and yet we all know they are the jewels of the Bahamas. I plan to do whatever is in my power to have 

Bahamians and international tourists discover what they are missing in the Family Islands; to have them drooling for a Family Island experience. The blog is a valuable resource for researching the destination and inspiring others to book a flight, rent a hotel room or pitch a tent and go discover the Islands of the Bahamas,” said Ms Nicolls.

With the Domestic Tourist focused on the content marketing side of the business, BahamaGo plans to focus on the online booking side of the business. Instead of producing its own blog, BahamaGo now links directly to the Domestic Tourist.

Scott Turnquest, a director at BahamaGo, said: “This partnership allows us to focus on what we do best, provide the technology to facilitate Family Island travel. There is a lot of economic activity happening in the online travel market, and a central pillar is booking engines like ours.

“But we are the only online travel agent 100 per cent committed to domestic airlines and Family Island businesses. We have seen Noelle’s commitment to the Family Islands through The Domestic Tourist, and we thought it made sense to support other’s efforts.”

Next month, the Domestic Tourist is hosting a formal launch event to introduce the full vision of the company.

“Although I started with travel blog, my business plan carries the brand far beyond the blog. It is really a travel lifestyle company that will offer some of the most unique tours and experiences for exploring and discovering the Family Islands. This is an exciting time to be an online business and to be in the travel industry, which is so badly in need of innovation. We share the same values as BahamaGo and look forward to working together,” said Ms Nicolls.