The Abacos is working hard to distinguish itself as a destination with its own appeal and visitors to the islands are taking notice.
According to data compiled by the Planning and Research Department in the Ministry of Tourism, The Abacos recorded the highest percentage in visitor night growth during 2004.
Visitor nights for The Abacos grew by close to 18 per cent last year. In comparison, Nassau/Paradise Island saw an 11.7 per cent increase; Grand Bahama visitor nights increased by one per cent.
While hotel nights on The Abacos continue to grow, reaching 34 per cent in 2004, the islands are also seeing an increase in the number of visitors choosing alternative accommodations. Last year, 63 per cent more visitors chose to stay in vacation homes while stopover boat visits grew by 17 per cent.
To ensure not only increases in stopover visitors but happy visitors that go home with a strong intent to recommend the islands to friends and family, tourism partners on Abaco have joined together to find ways of strengthening the tourism product.
To realize their goal, the Abaco community has gone to the extent of holding a two-day retreat last year during which a ten-year business plan was devised. And to make sure the islands keep on track, nine task forces were created addressing every conceivable area related to tourism from training and education to eco-tourism and the environment.
Director of the Abaco Tourist Office, Jeritzan Outten firmly believes the only way to enhance tourism in The Abacos is to involve the entire community. This includes keeping everyone abreast of any changes and developments. This belief was the main thrust behind a recent breakfast meeting at the Anglican Parish Hall in Marsh Harbour during which the business community was given an update on the advances in tourism achieved during 2004.
The Abaco Tourist Office invited Gary Young, Director of Statistics in the Ministry of Tourism to update Abaconians on stopover gains and visitor sentiments as reported on the exit surveys. The news delivered by Mr. Young was well received. Of all the islands in The Bahamas, Abaco attained the highest intent to recommend; 85 per cent of visitors surveyed indicated they were very likely to recommend the Abacos to family and friends.
Mr. Young told the Abaco business community that overall, most of the visitors were very satisfied with the tourism product. And although inevitably there are some dissatisfied visitors, the dissatisfaction rate for The Abacos was extremely low. At 0.8 per cent, Abaco’s dissatisfaction rate is significantly lower than the three per cent recorded for the overall Bahamas and the four per cent recorded for Grand Bahama.
Despite the hurricane hurdles faced by The Abacos in 2004, the impact of which was worse than the September 11, 2001 tragedy, the islands are poised for a spectacular 2005.
Mr. Young told the Abaco business community that international, regional and local tourism were trending upwards and Abaco was no exception. Already, Mr. Young noted, Abaco’s performance in stopover visitors during 2004, was five per cent higher than Caribbean islands like Anguilla, Dominica and Bonaire.
The Nassau Guardian
