The Tribune

The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president has warned that this nation will suffer reduced stopover arrivals unless its product value improves, adding: “We need to get it right first time.”

Stuart Bowe, responding to Tribune Business’s e-mailed questions, said low ‘value for money’ satisfaction among visitors to this nation “costs us” increased business and economic activity.

Mr Bowe said the issue was “a high priority” for the Bahamian tourism industry, given this nation’s market position as a relatively high-priced, expensive destination, but conceded the sector was “challenged” to address it.

He was responding after Tribune Business last revealed that fewer Fewer than one-third of stopover visitors received better-than-expected ‘value for money’ from Bahamian hotels

The Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Tour Operator and Media Survey’, released prior to the BHTA’s December annual general meeting (AGM), found that just 29 per cent of interviewed visitors found hotels exceeded expectations on this key indicator.

A similar score was achieved on overall vacation ‘value for money’, and Mr Bowe told Tribune Business: “Value for money is a key indicator for visitor satisfaction. As we are considered to be a high price destination, the value proposition must be a high priority for tourism operators.”

Asked about the consequences of these findings for the Bahamian tourism industry, the largest sector and contributor to the economy, Mr Bowe replied bluntly: “The consequence is reduced stopover visitor growth, increased negative posts on social media, increased costs and pressure on marketing the destination, and a failure to take advantage of positive word of mouth referrals.

“We understand our guest’s expectations. We need to get it right the first time. If not, it costs us.”

Mr Bowe urged Bahamian hotels and tourism operators to develop “more innovative products”, and added: “The sector’s emphasis on exceeding, not just meeting, expectations will continue to challenge industry stakeholders from both the private and public sector to work harder on the issue.

“The BHTA, alongside its public and private sector partners, such as the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Education, hotel operators, tour and attraction businesses throughout the Bahamas, will continue to focus on activities and initiatives designed to heighten our standards of service and highlight the aspects of our tourism product that are unique and distinct.

“So much of a customer’s value perception is captured in the one-on-one experiences with our front-line employees. Therefore, training and ‘daily’ measurement of customer service is essential.”

Asked whether the Ministry of Tourism’s findings were more evidence that the Bahamas’ high operating costs were ‘pricing it out’ of a large segment of the potential visitor market, Mr Bowe conceded: “Product pricing and service value are ongoing concerns.

“Both issues require more strategic planning by the hotel industry due to the increasing of numbers of options that vacationers have today. There are still large and niche markets to be tapped.

“It starts with including all tourism stakeholders in the solution to the price and value concerns. Simultaneously, we must continue to advocate and address the industry and national issues that make the destination more expensive than our competitors.”

That likely refers to the Bahamas’ relatively high utility and labour costs/productivity, although the Government is moving on energy sector reform in a bid to reduce one of the private sector’s two greatest costs.

“The Bahamas overall did not receive very high ratings on hotel value for money. Only 29 per cent or approximately three in 10 stopovers thought it was much better or better than they had expected it to be,” the Ministry of Tourism survey found.

On overall vacation ‘value for money’, just 34 per cent of visitors surveyed - again one-in-three - found that the Bahamas had exceeded expectations in this regard.

The Ministry of Tourism survey also found that 15 per cent of stopover visitors to the Bahamas felt hotels did not meet their ‘value for money’ expectations, a figure that rose to 18 per cent - almost one in five - for Nassau/Paradise Island properties.

As for total ‘value for money’, the Bahamas fell below expectations for 14 per cent of stopover tourists, with Nassau/Paradise Island again leading the way with a 15 per cent ‘miss’.

The survey’s findings, while unlikely to be a shock, will reinforce tourism industry concerns that this nation’s relatively high-end, expensive market position is making it difficult to meet - and exceed - visitor expectations.

Doing so is key to winning repeat visitors, and increased ‘word of mouth’ business from returning tourists recommending the Bahamas to their friends.

Positive comments from visitors responding to the survey were up year-over-year at 2,019, while negative ones were down.

Yet the Ministry of Tourism survey added: “Of the 1,148 negative comments received in 2014, the top six complaints made by visitors included: High prices, complaints about their hotel, poor attitudes of the people, food (prices and quality), poor service and litter.”

A presentation given to BHTA members on April 3, 2014, in the run-up to Value-Added Tax (VAT), suggested that the Bahamas had already ‘priced itself’ out of 65 per cent of the middle-aged couples market in the key New York and South Florida areas.