The Tribune

The Bahamas is doing "a poor job" of extracting more spending from cruise visitors, a cabinet minister said yesterday, ahead of a workshop aiming to spur tourism entrepreneurship.

Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism, was speaking as officials at his ministry and the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) joined forces to host a two-day "Tourist Money Never Done" workshop.

He said statistics show that 6.3 million foreign visitors travel to The Bahamas on an annual basis, 75 percent of them by cruise ship and 25 percent as stopover visitors. The 75 percent of cruise passengers, however, represent only 11 percent "of the spend".

"So that tells me right off the top that all of these cruise passengers are coming to The Bahamas; the Ministry of Tourism is doing a great job attracting them here, and we are doing a poor job of increasing the spend from those foreign visitors when they get here," Mr D'Aguilar said.

The workshop will take place from September 13-14 at the British Colonial Hilton. Presenters will include Janet Johnson, director of business development at the Ministry of Tourism; Patrick Rahming, chief executive, Patrick Rahming & Associates; Brendan Foulkes, lecturer, University of The Bahamas; Davinia Blair, executive director, Small Business Development Centre; Justin Sturrup, deputy managing director, Bahamas Development Bank; Quintin Curry, business consultant; and Craig Mortimer senior, manager, tours and transportation department, Ministry of Tourism.

Mr D'Aguilar said the workshop's content was geared towards "capturing the imagination of budding entrepreneurs who already have an inkling to start a tourism-related business, and are seeking guidance and funding".

Up to $50,000 will be available from the Bahamas Development Bank for participants, depending on the project and its potential. Technical and management support for the workshop will be provided by officials from the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA).

"This workshop is designed to give participants the best chance for success by providing two organisations - the TDC (Tourism Development Corporation) and the SBDC (Small Business Development Centre) - to support the Bahamas Development Bank in this endeavour," Mr D'Aguilar said.

"It is the first in a series of workshops that we plan to eventually take to the other islands, intended to create jobs and improve the quality of life throughout the islands. It is a people-centred approach that is intended to inspire local entrepreneurs to think about getting involved in the tourist business, offering related products and services to increase tourism spend and help to distribute the wealth."