Tourism officials are burying many of the beliefs they once had about how to lure visitors to The Bahamas and get them to spend more, Director General of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said on Monday.
ﾓAll the things that we used to believe are suddenly changed,ﾒ said Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace, who addressed the Annual Business Outlook Seminar at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort.
ﾓWe have made some radical changes in terms of the way we see tourism and as a result of this the way we conduct the business of tourism. We used to believe that the most important thing is to advertise; we now know that the most important thing is the [visitor] experience has to be as good as it can be.ﾒ
He noted that if the visitor experience isnﾴt the very best then no advertising campaign could fix that.
Tourism officials have also taken on a new approach to advertising, Mr. Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace noted. As opposed to enticing visitors to stay for long periods, they are now promoting shorter stays.
ﾓWe used to believe that long lengths of stays are the most important thing for the visitor, but the shorter the length of stay the higher the average daily spend,ﾒ Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace said.
ﾓPeople spend more money per day the shorter they stay and the airlines love us for that and the ground transportation system loves us for that. So now we are going after a completely different type of market in terms of looking after people.ﾒ
Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace said there is also another approach officials are taking to improving the tourism product and beefing up dollars spent by visitors.
They now realize that high numbers of tourists do not necessarily translate into high dollars earned from tourism.
ﾓIf we somehow manage to get every single visitor that comes here to spend an additional $10, thatﾴs $50 million added to our economy,ﾒ Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace said. ﾓIt makes a tremendous difference, so that idea of focusing only on counting heads is something that we have decided to change.ﾒ
Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace also praised the addition of low cost carriers to The Bahamas, saying they will help increase the profit margin for The Bahamas.
ﾓSo now we are restoring the proximity of The Bahamas and we are no longer worried about low cost carriers because we see them as being very important in increasing the profitability of The Bahamas,ﾒ he said.
Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace also gave other ideas for helping to transform tourism in The Bahamas. They include: implementing scheduled water bus and water taxis to relieve road congestion; implementing a fast ferry hub to help promote Family Island travel; and putting in place an efficient public transportation system on the streets.
The director general also reported that tourism performance last year was impressive.
ﾓEven though we had some product and inventory challenges, particularly for Grand Bahama, the tourism outlook for 2005 is indeed quite bright,ﾒ Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace added.
Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
