The Tribune

Grand Bahama residents and businesses will be prepared to take advantage of $300m in pending cruise line investments at a specialist training session scheduled for early May.

The Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) Small Business Bureau is hosting the workshop, which will be facilitated by the Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence. Aquila is the exclusive training partner of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA).

Ian Rolle, the GBPA’s president, said the May 8 workshop was vital to readying Grand Bahama for the new business, entrepreneurial and employment opportunities set to be created by the cruise lines.

Carnival’s announcement of its new cruise port, complemented by Royal Caribbean’s proposed redevelopment of the Lucayan Harbour, are projected to unleash some $300m worth of investment in the island.

This made the annual Seatrade Cruise Global Conference (STCG) even more important to Grand Bahama as a means of networking and gaining new ideas.

“The Seatrade Cruise Global Conference is the largest and most important industry event of the year. Industry leaders rely on insights shared for future direction on what we can expect for the upcoming maritime season from the major players,” said Derek Newbold, senior manager of business development for the GBPA and Invest Grand Bahama.

“Considering the major announcements made regarding Grand Bahama this year, in addition to investment promotion efforts, we focused on canvasing opportunities that would benefit licensees, especially small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. This way, we could empower them to take advantage of future opportunities created by either of the new developments.”

The four-day Seatrade Cruise Global Conference is host to over 11,000 attendees, exhibitors and executives spanning every sector of the cruise, maritime and tourism industries.

“Grand Bahama is the logistics and maritime capital of The Bahamas,” Mr Rolle added. “Therefore, STCG is an important event on our annual investment promotion calendar.

“The maritime sector continues to be a very competitive industry across all sectors. As a destination, Grand Bahama must keep pace with all aspects of the industry and consumer demands regardless of the nature, be it tourism, industrial, trade, information etc.

“Competing ports and destinations continuously refine the narrative on how to service these customers. Grand Bahama must as well, and I believe we can do it just as good or better than any jurisdiction,” Mr Rolle continued.

“STCG has literally become a global marketplace for the maritime industry. And whilst we did not exhibit through our usual partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, we hosted a series of meetings with industry stakeholders, vendors and investment prospects.

“As a result of a key meeting, we are proud to announce our upcoming Aquila Cruise Excellence Training set for May 8. Many of the new ideas and contacts made during the conference will prove beneficial for new product development and packaging of tours, not only for existing businesses but new entrants into the tourism market as well.”