The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Editor

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The deputy prime minister says Grand Bahama is now enjoying the highest percentage increase in airlift of any island as the Government has been “intentional” over the post-Dorian rebound.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said: “What we are seeing is Nassau/Paradise Island is the lead. It’s really the anchor, if you will, for the tourism industry, but there’s so much more.

“People remember Grand Bahama most lately as the place that Dorian struck. We have been intentional and growing on returning and rebounding Grand Bahama and Abaco back to the glory days, and this is what we’re seeing.

“We have been intentional, and therefore Grand Bahama is now leading the way with a highest percentage increase in airlift to the island. We have intentionally used Bahamasair strategically to implement a Raleigh to Grand Bahama flight, and we are putting that back in place shortly in the next in the next few days.”

Mr Cooper added that Bimini is experiencing a growth rate of over 130 percent, while Exuma and Cat Island are expanding at 11 percent and all other islands are between 20 and 50 percent.

He said: “We have gone all around the world and told the world about the 16 destinations and, as a result, we see Bimini growing at a clip exceeding 130 percent. We see Exuma and Cat Island, holding its own around 11 percent, and we see all of the other islands between 20 and 50 percent growth. This is phenomenal.”

Mr Cooper said that while he does not anticipate a decline in tourism demand The Bahamas is “constrained” by our current room capacity so the ministry has launched an initiative to encourage Bahamians to provide short-term rentals.

He said: “I will make one point, though, that though there is no end in sight at this point for the demand to travel to the islands of The Bahamas, we are constrained by our capacity. So on the investment side of my work, we’re encouraging more developers to build more resorts; to build more rooms. And we are working with every Bahamian on our new ‘Host the Guest’ initiative.

“We are putting our money on some incentives and some concessions behind us. We got to roll it out in January to encourage every Bahamian to participate actively in the tourism boom that we are seeing”

Mr Cooper explained that adding short-term rentals to smaller Family Island communities can provide visitors with an authentic Bahamian experience where they can interact with residents and support local businesses.

He said: “Get on Airbnb, VRBO, or one of the other booking engines and ensure that we have properties which are aligned with our community-based tourism initiative, aligned with our people-to-people programme, where we can have our tourists living in small communities like Rolleville, Exuma, for that authentic feeling, eating at local restaurants, shopping at convenience stores, driving in local taxis going out with local tour guides or just having a drink out of bar and talking with our residents there.

“This is what we are advancing. It’s one of the strategies that we are using for the future to help us to ramp up inventory quickly.”