Many Bahamian businesses have been slow to embrace the fourth industrial revolution by turning to digital technology, Director General in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Joy Jibrilu said yesterday, adding that business owners have also been slow to build out their firms to service the tourism market of seven million people.
Jibrilu, who was speaking at the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (BICA) Accountants’ Week seminar, noted that Bahamian business owners who do not believe their business operates within the tourism ecosystem are wrong.
“Many business professionals are unfamiliar with the methodology of tourism satellite accounting, which illustrates how directly and indirectly local businesses have grown and expanded to service the tourism ecosystem that has been steadily built to service and market to upwards of seven million customers and not just 400,000 citizens,” Jibrilu said.
“Consequently, many businesses, even though they don’t believe they operate within the tourism ecosystem, are actually having trouble maintaining operations due directly in part to the lack of understanding of the impacts of the tourism industry, which accounts for over 40 percent of gross domestic product and has seen a decrease in visitors to the destination by 70 percent over last year.
“Another impediment to business resilience in The Bahamian context is the slowness in which the business community at large has embraced digital technology, the fourth industrial revolution, which has gained a firm foothold in the global economy.”
She said e-commerce platforms have leveled the playing field for small businesses and provided the leverage for entrepreneurs to pivot from brick-and-mortar points of sale to online, in order to attract more customers.
“It has also leveled the playing field whereby even the smallest local competitors with access to a digital platform are able to sustain their customer base and attract new customers while exploring the international marketplace and becoming global players,” Jibrilu said.
“In many instances, upfront investments in digital services have provided not just cost savings over time but greater flexibility in decision making, such that businesses have the ability to plan, build diversity and deftly change course with the ebb and flow of market forces.”
According to Jibrilu, businesses will not survive in the global pandemic by employing old business models. She added that companies have to also invest in data analytics for tracking sales and budgeting.
“Business resilience in The Bahamas will be about ensuring that business is sustainable,” she said.
The post Local businesses slow to embrace digital technology, laments Jibrilu appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/local-businesses-slow-to-embrace-digital-technology-laments-jibrilu/
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