CTO Chief Calls for Revamped Tourism Product in the Bahamas

The tourism industry in the Bahamas needs a facelift if it is to remain the number one visitor destination in the region, according to Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace.

While addressing the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce’s Business Education and Development Seminar on Tuesday, Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace said tourists are tired of the same old things when they visit The Bahamas and want new experiences.

“There are more James Bond films that have been created here in The Bahamas in part or in whole than any other place in the world,” he said. “But go and try to find a James Bond tour where people can go and see the actual locations and all the things that are being done. Part of the reason that the people who come here on cruise ships do not get off the cruise ships is because the same tours they got offered the last time they were here are the same tours offered today.”

He said statistics show that 51 percent of cruise visitors to the Bahamas have visited the destination before and many of them refuse to come off the ship because they believe nothing in Nassau is new.

Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace also suggested that The Bahamas should take advantage of its international reputation as a leader in tourism and financial services and use seminars and training opportunities to draw foreign professionals in these fields to The Bahamas.

“I find it amazing. Why aren’t we making sure that every single day we invite people in the theatres in Cable Beach or at Paradise Island to talk to them about what is available and what is being offered in financial services?” he asked.
Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace added that people all around the world have already heard of the things The Bahamas has to offer. However, he said Bahamians must now provide the opportunities for them to experience them while they are in the country.

He said when professionals from different arenas can use their skills to sharpen the tourism industry and personally benefit from their work it is then that tourism would have taken on a new face and provided new opportunities.