The Tribune

GRAND Bahama's ranking as a cruise tourism destination "remains subpar and requires immediate attention", a senior Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) executive has admitted.

Derek Newbold, senior manager of business development for the GBPA and its Invest Grand Bahama (IGB) affiliate, said this was the message received from the cruise lines, with Carnival revealing that just 25-30 per cent of its passengers purchased tours on the island.

The feedback came as the GBPA sought to promote Grand Bahama as 'open for business' at the 24th annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) conference and tradeshow in Merida, Mexico, last week.

A four-member team drawn from the GBPA, Ministry of Tourism and Freeport Harbour Company attended the event to reintroduce the island's tourism product to the cruise lines, and address some of the challenges facing the destination.

"FCCA is a strategic event on GBPA's promotions calendar; one done in collaboration with our partners at the Freeport Harbour Company and the Ministry of Tourism," said Mr Newbold.

"We had very insightful and productive meetings with several cruise lines, who shared some interesting statistics. For example, Carnival Cruise Lines revealed that of the 25-30 per cent of passengers purchasing tours for Grand Bahama, a high percentage of them are enjoying favourable tour experiences with local operators.

"We found this to be very encouraging, as the numbers clearly validate the island's ability to produce quality experiences for our guests. However, notwithstanding a satisfactory rating on tours engaged, the destination's overall ranking remains subpar and requires immediate attention.

"In years past, there was a certain level of ambiguity when it came to determining how the lines computed destination rankings. We now know exactly what we are being rated on and the industry benchmarks for each category. This provides us with a tremendous opportunity to provide laser focus on those areas where we are under-performing as a destination."

Specialised forums at the FCCA conference address every aspect of the cruise industry, giving attendees direct input from the 19 member cruise lines who decide where ships call, what is sold and used onboard, and how to invest in destinations and infrastructure.

Ian Rolle, the GBPA's president, said a 'Cruise Excellence Training', scheduled for November, will focus on building tour capacity as well as diversity. "Grand Bahama needs to increase its shore excursion capacity to accommodate more passengers from vessels currently calling on Grand Bahama," he said.

"The 'Cruise Excellence training' as presented by Aquila, exclusive training partners of the FCCA, will introduce new tour and product concepts tailored uniquely to our destination, which can become business opportunities for existing or aspiring entrepreneurs.

"As a destination located only a stone's throw away from major South Florida home ports, we have a tremendous opportunity to build our tourism product, rebrand our destination and gain market share within the cruise sector. We must capitalise on this opportunity today."

Betty Bethel, the Ministry of Tourism's director for Grand Bahama, added: "The FCCA conference and trade show has proven very productive and fruitful for Grand Bahama, as we've gleaned a better appreciation of the expectation of the cruise visitor. We now know without a doubt that our product offering needs to be more diverse, and more heritage and culturally oriented."

"The Minister of Tourism, Dionisio D'Aguilar, has said that one of the Ministry's goals is to get more passengers off the cruise ships and increase spend on the destination. The Ministry of Tourism is therefore especially pleased to partner with the Grand Bahama Port Authority in the upcoming product development training, which will reinforce and equip tours and attractions entrepreneurs with the skills and techniques required to compete in the competitive cruise environment, while making our destination a premier port of call."