The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas is playing catch-up to Caribbean tourism rivals who avoided lockdowns and continued operating throughout COVID-19, a top official yesterday.

Ellison "Tommy" Thompson, the Ministry of Tourism's deputy director-general, told the Long Island Business Outlook webinar that it has been working to get "brand Bahamas out there into the marketplace" from mid-September 2020.

"A lot of countries did not go into lockdowns," he said. "For example, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Cancun have been doing business right through. We are now getting out there in terms of working with the airlines, our tour operator partners and getting the word that The Bahamas is back out there and putting the brand Bahamas back into the forefront.

“Then, for the third phase in 2021, that’s when we are going to go full force in terms of our marketing along with the private sector.”

Matthew Brear, general manager of Long Island's Cape Santa Maria resort, said: “The primary thing is that we have 100 percent committed ourselves to the clean and pristine initiative introduced by the Ministry of Tourism, and regulated by the hotel licensing department.

"I must admit that when I heard of the clean and pristine programme, I gave a bit of an eye-roll and a grumble, but now we have developed a safety plan and we had rolled it out successfully on July 1. I have seen the positive impact it has had on our business, and not just the physical plan like Plexiglas shields and hand sanitiser stations and signage, or our staff wearing masks and doing daily temperature checks and doing things socially distant, but the extraordinary bi-product of all of this is the positive PR our commitment to the clean and pristine programme has impressed on our guests and the general public.

“Our product is not simply our amenities or our product, but our product is Long Island in its entirety,” said Mr Brear. "We are selling a Long Island experience. Never before has it been so important for Long Island tourism stakeholders to offer a consistent message of collective commitment to the health and safety of our guests.”

Explaining how he would market the “Long Island experience”, Mr Brear added: “At Cape Santa Maria over the last few years our focus has been on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. That has been by far our most successful campaign.” He said that these social media platforms have generated the most positive feedback from potential visitors.

Further highlighting the potential advantage Long Island has moving into next year Mr Brear said most travellers now want to avoid large cities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This, he added, gives Long Island a strategic advantage from a marketing perspective as a “remote” location.