James Malcolm, the ministry’s new Executive Director of Group Travel told The Guardian that many businesses and religious groups are delighted to come to The Bahamas as the destination creates more excitement among travellers, many of whom have not been outside the U.S.
He also said he was pleased with the weekend stopover of African American, multi-millionaire attorney, Willie Gary. Mr Gary, whose law firm is based in Ft Pierce Florida, brought his entire staff of 96 to The Bahamas for the firm’s two-day retreat. The group soaked up a variety of leisure activities and left The Bahamas on Sunday.
In a press statement, the Ministry said it was pleased that Mr Gary chose The Bahamas as the destination for the getaway.
“And we’re not just taking to Associations, we’re talking to the religious market, others in the African American market, and the incentive business for Nassau, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands,” said Mr Malcolm.
“That’s a very large part of my endeavour to get the word out and make U.S. corporations realise that instead of going to San Diego or Naples or Orlando for that convention in 2006, 07 and beyond, Why not come to Grand Bahama or Nassau, which is not much farther away?”
Mr Malcolm worked most recently at Missouri-based Maritz Travel, the largest travel incentive company in the U.S. with 1,600 offices and affiliates in over 60 countries. He was stationed at the Atlanta office as an account executive for the last seven years.
He added that he was presently working on a number of groups to get them to come to The Bahamas over the next five years.
“We’re going to be communicating through select advertisers and sales and marketing communication tools and web tools to get to the decision makers and the meeting planners and let them know that we have reorganised and refocused the group travel environment in The Bahamas,” he said.
“Because it’s very easy for me to get on a plane and go to a bunch of trade shows in the U.S. and say The Bahamas is a very beautiful country and we’ll make it a great group experience for you.”
He continued, “But that’s only part of the equation. The other equal part is working here on the ground to get better service, to make sure that the product is not compromised and that garbage is picked up and the landscaping looks good.”
New tax initiative will help
Tourism Director General, Vernice Walkine said group travel and corporate conventions to The Bahamas are expected to boom next year with the elimination of the U.S. Convention Tax law, which would encourage American businesses to hold meetings overseas without penalty.
The Bahamas is able to benefit from the elimination of the law because it signed the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the U.S. in 2002.
The TIEA, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2004, secures a full six-year designation of The Bahamas as a Qualified Jurisdiction (QJ) under the U.S Internal Revenue Service (IRS) qualified intermediary programme.
The country’s QJ status enables local financial institutions that invest in U.S. securities to benefit from a reduced withholding tax on those investments. About 30 jurisdictions have applied to and received accreditation from the IRS as QJs.
By MINDELL SMALL, Nassau Guardian Staff Reporter
