The Bahamas’ proximity advantage to source markets, cruise lines’ home porting initiatives and the possibility for growth of the domestic tourism market all bode well for an accelerated recovery of the tourism sector, according to the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Quarterly Bulletin.
The report recommended the further expansion of innovative and novel tourism products that are likely to freshen the country’s product offering and increase its competitive edge.
“Home porting could significantly increase spending by cruise travelers, as many would spend at least a night in a hotel before embarking and upon disembarking,” the report stated.
“This could boost spending on hospitality, food services and other items per cruise ship passenger and it could also increase the overall flow of cruise ship passengers. There has been good news recently on this front, as Royal Caribbean announced it would home port in Nassau, starting in June 2021 and Crystal Cruises announced it would start to do so in July.
“There is clearly scope for improving backward linkages with the rest of the economy, including agriculture. There is also scope for improving the efficiency of tourism services through digitization and also by lowering the cost of electricity via renewable energy.”
The report further noted that The Bahamas offers scope for diversifying its tourism offerings, including eco-tourism, health and wellness tourism, remote work, retirement services and education services.
The IDB’s Tourism Lead Specialist Olga Gómez said in a press statement about the report that the Caribbean can no longer depend on the “lure of splendid beaches”.
“Over the longer term, Caribbean countries must spur innovation and reinvigorate their tourism offerings,” said Gómez.
“Tourism destinations need to invest in improving their competitiveness, aligning their tourism products to the broader local and global economic trends and exploring new and traditional emerging market segments such as global nomadism or nature-based tourism.”
The report further notes that the Caribbean could lag or lead global recovery levels, depending on whether or not regional countries reimagine their tourism products and depending on the COVID-19 realities of their source markets. It added that The Bahamas in particular is fit for tourism diversification and countries in the region can no longer depend on the allure of beaches.
The bulletin stated that while the recovery for the Caribbean is uncertain, destinations must get out in front of the recovery to benefit from “post-pandemic global demand trends”.
It added that global vaccination trends will also continue to be inextricably linked to travel trends.
The report suggests the recovery period could be between two-and-a-half to four years in the region, with the likelihood of volatility along that path.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/idb-report-highlights-factors-supporting-tourism-growth/
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