The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism recently announced that Anthony Stuart would be leaving the Ministry after 22 years to become Executive Director of The Bahama Out Islands Promotion Board.
He will be joined at the Promotion Board by Margie Schneider who will assume the newly created position of Director of Strategic Planning & Marketing. Ms Schneider was most recently Director of Marketing & Interactive for Medical Staffing Network in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Out Islands Promotion Board, located in Plantation, Florida, works on behalf of its members by lobbying the government on important issues, enhancing on-island products and services, and marketing the Family Islands to consumers.
This expansion at the Board will allow both Mr Stuart and Ms Schneider to pursue new and aggressive strategies in reaching audiences via consumer/trade shows, special events and direct marketing, while also working to im-prove the experience for travellers throughout the Out Islands.
Ms Schneider will focus on marketing, messaging and communications, and Mr Stuart will employ his experience and depth of knowledge of the destination in the recruitment of new members and government lobbying initiatives. The Family Islands are experiencing a great deal of growth in developments, and the Promotion Board will work closely with the Bahamian government to ensure that related products and services develop along with new resorts.
“By creating a new position, more focus can be placed on specific efforts, and the combined energies of Anthony and Margie will result in greater success,” noted Elizabeth Vance, returning president of the Out Islands Promotion Board. “We feel they have the skills to take the Board to the next level.”
Mr Stuart began his career in the Bahamas Tourist Office in Montreal and has held numerous positions throughout Canada and the US. Most recently, Mr Stuart was Deputy Director οΎ– Florida, with a focus on increasing tourism from this key market for Bahamas travel.
Ms Schneider has an extensive background in strategic planning and project management for clients in varied industries including tourism, healthcare and Fortune 1000 companies seeking to leverage new media strategies to increase the bottom line.
She is no stranger to the Out Islands of The Bahamas having built many of the first tourism web sites for properties throughout the country in the mid 1990s. Ms Schneider began her career in the interactive industry at CosmicWeb in 1994.
The Nassau Guardian
