The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas will continue to face an uphill battle in its tourism marketing efforts unless the industry commits to improving the tourism product and providing value, a senior official said yesterday.

Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism's director-general, told the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association's (BHTA) quarterly meeting that the poor justification for this nation's high costs "most undermines" efforts to attract consumers seeking value-added vacations. "It is the poor justification of cost that most undermines our marketing and other efforts to attract the many consumers intent on booking value added warm weather vacations,"

she said.

"For this reason local market actors must have a demonstrated commitment to the goal of improving the tourism product and service quality, and thereby improving the consistent delivery of value for money, otherwise we will continue to face an uphill battle in the promotion of our destination no matter how much we spend on advertising."

Mrs Jibrilu argued that the Bahamas must not be distracted, and instead "define what success looks like while seeking solutions to the problems undermining our performance".

She added: "The Bahamas has the potential to deliver a truly world-class tourism product that rivals its stiff competition in every aspect, but we need to further develop our product quality and showcase its uniqueness; further develop our human resources; improve service levels; investment in our Bahamian entrepreneurs; apply high standards across the abroad; and employ problem solving and deliberate strategies to achieve these goals."