The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Tourist Office senior sales team in the United States attended a three-day familiarisation trip to Grand Bahama last week, at a time when the island is in “urgent need of exposure”.

Senior Director of US Sales, Sports and Marketing Greg Rolle, led a team from BTO branches in Plantation, Florida; Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Washington, DC, and New York.

Grand Bahama’s tourism product was severely affected in October 2016 as a result of the passage of Hurricane Matthew. Hotel properties sustained significant damage, which resulted in a decline in room inventory. Many, but not all hotels, have been restored and are open.

According to Ministry of Tourism Senior Communications Officer Brooke Grant, the group participated in extensive site inspections of hotel properties and attractions, which included the Bell Channel Inn, Island Seas Resort, Ocean Reef Resort, Castaways Resort & Suites, Flamingo Bay Hotel, Taino Beach Resort, Grand Lucayan’s Lighthouse Pointe, Pelican Bay Hotel, Old Bahama Bay Resort, Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach and The Bahamian Brewery.

She said the team stayed at the newly renovated Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort, where they were hosted to a welcome dinner at the Viva Café Restaurant.

The trip was organised by the Grand Bahama Tourist Office, in partnership with the Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board.

Among the many concerns over the state of Grand Bahama’s tourism product, Betty Bethel, director for the Ministry of Tourism in Grand Bahama, said the positioning of the destination, which includes heightening sporting and soft adventure initiatives, bodes well for the upcoming summer travel season.

“Grand Bahama Island has developed a strong rapport with Sunwing Airlines and Vacation Express, which have for the past several years provided the destination with summer and winter non-stop service from key US and Canadian markets,” she added.

She reported that Vacation Express is offering vacation packages from all US cities on most major airlines, and visitors from any US gateway can travel to Grand Bahama year-round, and take advantage of four-night or five-night departures with non-stop flights from May through October.

Carmel Churchill, director of marketing services with the Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board, believes that the familiarisation trip was timely.

“It came at a time when the destination of Grand Bahama Island was in urgent need of the additional exposure to enlighten its consumers about the improvements to current hotel and attraction inventory, as well as to its rapidly expanding and diverse product offerings,” she said.

Meanwhile Mr Rolle said that it is critical for the US BTO sales team to get to know the product first-hand on Grand Bahama, and convey their support to tourism stakeholders there.

He said their mandate is to re-connect and re-engage with the travel trade and media, and to provide opportunities for The Bahamas to re-introduce the brand of The Bahamas into its target markets.