Tourism officials have expressed concerns about declining visitor satisfaction as reflected in immigration departure cards completed by tourists leaving The Bahamas.
According to those cards, in June 2003 over 70 percent of visitors to Nassau and Paradise Island said they were ‘very likely’ to recommend The Bahamas.
By December 2005, that figure had reached an all-time low of 61 percent. The ultimate goal of the Ministry of Tourism is for all or at the very least 95 percent of visitors indicating that they would be ‘very likely’ to recommend The Bahamas.
This is why tourism officials are embracing the Atlantis Phase III development, already under construction, and the planned redevelopment of the Cable Beach Strip. They feel that these would bring about a much-needed improvement to the quality of the product provided to guests.
Director of Research and Development in the Ministry of Tourism Gary Young told The Bahama Journal on Thursday that the visitor experience is expected to improve when the new projects take root.
“Once upgrades occur, the experience that is going to be had [by our guests] is going to give much more value for money,” Mr. Young said. “Any upgrade to any hotel or facility will produce good results in the minds of the consumer.”
According to the departure cards, guest comments ranged from complaints about hotel facilities, overpricing and mediocrity of food to widespread apathy of hotel staff.
Mr. Young said what it comes down to is the attitude of people and the treatment of guests.
“How you feel about your vacation in total determines if you will have an extremely good experience,” Mr. Young said. “And generally speaking, most people assume that they got their value for money from their experience.”
While the immigration cards have been showing declines in the satisfaction numbers of visitors to Nassau and Paradise Island, not all visitors feel that they are not getting value for money.
Charles Fields, who was visiting from England, told The Bahama Journal that he had no problems with the service that he received during his stay at Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort
“The value for money at our hotel is superb,” Mr. Fields said. “I love it. It’s much better than in England.”
Another visitor, Anna Key, said she would recommend to her friends and family in New Jersey to visit The Bahamas.
She said that while she is “on the fence” about whether she is getting value for money at the hotel where she is spending her vacation, the customer service is top notch.
“The hotel value is so-so, but the shopping was great,” Ms. Key said. “The customer service is very nice. We need that back in Jersey.”
But Melvin King, a tourist from Chicago, believes Bahamians need to brush up on their customer service.
“I don’t mind spending,” he said. “But I think that The Bahamas can do a little better with the service, especially at that straw market.”
Similar comments were made on the immigration departure cards.
“This should have been a great trip. Instead, I felt as though I was being cheated. [The] food was terrible at hotel and overpriced,” one visitor complained.
Another said, “I was very disappointed in the resort that we stayed at. Brochures and travel agents were not honest about the facilities.”
While tourism officials look forward to new resort developments, Director General of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace noted in a statement from the Ministry that, “signing multibillion-dollar development deals is all well and good, but even more important is making sure that once these come to fruition we have trained staff, able and willing to deliver first-class products and service.”
Tourism officials noted that satisfaction ratings for hotel rooms, food and service, offered some encouragement.
From June 2003 through December 2004, hotel service consistently surpassed the other two categories.
“We are encouraged by these figures because what it tells us is that the potential to deliver superior service is there,” Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said. “Expanded development will translate into world-class facilities and amenities, thus creating more evenly balanced hotel satisfaction figures.”
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
