The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The eighth annual Andros Business Outlook conference will be held this Friday as the island and wider Bahamas continue the fight to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event, which will be held under the theme, A new era: Resilience in the face of Vulnerability, is being staged as The Bahamas again shuts its borders to commercial air and sea travel from the US.

However, conference speakers say Andros’ offerings of boutique resorts; ecotourism fuelled by sustainable natural resources; and diversification through agritourism have the potential to stimulate the Bahamian economy’s revival.

“A lot of Bahamian tourism is based on mass tourism, but Andros took a different path,” said Peter Douglas, senior manager at the Andros Tourist Office, who will speak on the topic, The competitiveness of Andros: Sustainability, diversification and innovation. “Andros didn’t get an anchor project. We took a sustainable tourism path and developed the small hotel industry.

“So therefore we are now the leaders in the tourism industry in The Bahamas because the new normal market is not looking for mass tourism. Travellers are looking for those small, intimate resort properties where they can be away from big crowds. With this new normal, our future is looking bright in tourism development and the tourism industry moving forward in Andros.”

Mr Douglas said that to maintain that ‘bright future’, developers on Andros must build and outfit their properties according to market demands and capitalise on the island’s resources. He pointed to properties such as Swain’s Cay Lodge in Mangrove Cay as an example of a development that “got it right”, and a developer who “really understands the industry”.

Cheryl Bastian has been hosting anglers and divers at Swain’s Cay Lodge, a preferred fly fishing venue, since 2006. She will bring her experience to the Andros Business Outlook conference in a presentation about how small to medium-sized accommodations will help drive tourism in the future.

“[Swain’s Cay Lodge] primarily caters to international anglers who come to mainly fish, and their mind is just on their fishing. But they bring partners, and there are other people who come to Andros and they want to know what to do while they’re here. It can’t just be the water sports that we offer,” said Ms Bastian.

“There is so much history here, but the sites are dilapidated and need cleaning and signage. The potential is immense but what we need is a concentrated effort. We’re just all over the place like a bee. We need to plan, look at how we’re going to manage things, and do so very soon because we’re missing great opportunities.”

Emphasising that tourism opportunities must be managed at a local level, Ms Bastian added: “We don’t need any additional foreign investment. Bahamians can do this. Let’s incentivise them. Let’s do real meaningful things to develop our culture. I think when we do that visitors will find that they have more meaningful vacations and it’s going to help the economy in a great way.”

Mr Douglas echoed the sentiment that Andros’ tourism success hinges on its ability to effectively manage cultural and natural resources. “Now you have a much more mature travelling market that doesn’t just want a cheap entertainment vacation. They want to have an experience that is memorable and unusual,” he explained.

“We need to be able to conceptualise that in a package for people, but we have to shore up quite a few things. We do have the environment, but the government won’t invest in that infrastructure so that these spectacular areas are easily accessible by visitors.

“Then with all of our cultural heritage and food, the government must invest in keeping cultural activities alive, constantly renewing and revitalising our culture. Then access to our blue holes should be like going to the Grand Canyon, with proper management and proper edutaining through signage,” Mr Douglas continued.

“We really need to streamline this market, and we need to invest in access and accessibility to this market because it’s going to be our new strong pillar in our tourism market. It’s the same thing with agritourism; it’s going to be awesome in Andros.”

Mr Douglas said the Andros Tourist Office has already begun working with The Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) to “shore up the saltwater fly fishing industry, the most stable and most productive tourism attraction for Andros, pumping $47m into the island per year”.

Through a partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), BAMSI now offers a certification course for fly fishing guides that prioritises sustainability, environmental responsibility and carbon reduction. It is a model that Mr Douglas hopes will be replicated to train nature guides, birdwatch guides, scuba dive masters and small hotel development.

Dr Raveenia Roberts-Hanna, BAMSI’s executive director, will speak at Andros Business Outlook about how her organisation is leading change in agriculture throughout Andros and other Family Islands.

From BAMSI’s partnership with the Andros Tourist Office to its soon-to-be implemented conservation course in partnership with the Bahamas National Trust, the institution “will have great economic impact for the islands and capacity building of sectors through skills training”.

“At BAMSI, we realise that our roots are in North Andros, per se, but it’s important that we spread out. This is why it’s important that we provide more training so that we are able to support all the islands and have an impact in all of the islands,” said Dr Roberts-Hanna.

“Each island has its own unique features. Each island attracts a different set of tourist and different sets of people, so through our agribusiness programmes and agritourism programmes we are helping to open up people’s minds to understand that there is so much untapped opportunities there that they can really make a good living if they just take advantage of what’s on the island.”

The Andros Business Outlook will be held at the BAMSI compound, where social distancing and other public health guidelines will be followed. The one-day conference concludes with a tour of the BAMSI compound. Visit tclevents.com for information about how to register. Paid access to conference livestream is also available.