TourismToday

Nassau, Bahamas – A better experience provided to Nassau visitors has resulted in staggering increases in their on-island expenditure, government and cruise officials confirmed.

After a recent meeting with Minister of Tourism & Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace and Minister of the Environment Earl Deveaux, Michele Paige, president of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), pointed out the substantial increases in the spending of cruise passengers to Nassau. The increases, she said were not coincidental.

“Remember, happy passengers spend money, and the amount of money that the passengers and crew are spending in The Bahamas has gone up considerably,” Ms. Paige said. “Passenger spending has gone up almost 39 percent over the last three years. The crew went up from $20 to $78, going up 290 percent over the past three years. Those changes don’t come about because nothing happened. Those changes come about because the product has improved and because of communications.”

Ms. Paige pointed out that several issues of concern have been discussed and addressed over the years. Years ago, she said, cruise lines would encourage Bahamian authorities to increase and bring more variety to shore excursions.

“Those conversations don’t go on today because it is happening,” she said.

FCCA representatives were in meetings recently with the government ministers to discuss further enhancements in the port area and in their working relationship with The Bahamas. These types of discussions still take place between the government officials and the cruise lines because both sides want to continue to improve conditions for passengers. They want customers to be satisfied, to increase their spending and to convert them to land-based travelers on a future visit, Ms. Paige said.

Among the discussions were the ongoing enhancements to security measures. Minister Deveaux said he is extremely pleased with what the police and the port controller are doing to ensure visitor safety.

“The police are well advanced in having CCTV all over downtown and they can watch them (perpetrators of crime) at all hours of the night and day,” he said.“They have mobilized additional resources. With respect to the port itself, we have a well-trained and highly-motivated team of Defense Force officers and port officers that work with them. So while we have incidents, safety as a rule is not a concern.”

The FCCA representatives were taken on a tour of some Nassau tourist attractions and given a briefing on what the Police Force and their partners are doing to continue to keep residents and tourists safe in those areas.