‘Tourists tell me they want to spend their money in The Bahamas’

Government’s point person on cruise homeporting, Senator Ranard Henfield, said tourists who are booked to embark on a cruise from Nassau have expressed to him that they are looking for a seamless travel experience and things to spend their money on.

He contended that with homeporting, $1 million per week could be injected directly into the Family Islands, if residents are empowered to make the money.

Henfield, who was a guest on “Morning Blend” on Guardian Radio 96.9 along with Tourism Development Corporation head Janet Johnson, said he regularly engages with tourists who are booked on a cruise scheduled to homeport in Nassau this summer.

For the first time, he said, the tourist is on board as a stakeholder in the tourism product through these conversations.

“Every week, I engage with the tourists – persons who have already booked and are coming in – to find out what is it you want, what are you looking for,” Henfield said.

“And what it is that stands out every time you hear them is they want seamless, safe travel and they want to spend… they want to spend their money.

“And one of our objectives is: how do we get every single dollar out of these tourists before they leave?”

According to Henfield, tourism, governmental and private sector stakeholders have a plan they are following to make the most out of the opportunity to have cruise lines homeport in The Bahamas.

“We are making progress daily and weekly,” he said.

Both Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Crystal Cruises have chosen Nassau’s Cruise port as a home port given that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still has not allowed for cruise sailings from US ports.

Crystal Cruises has put together a seven-night itinerary that is an all-Bahamas cruise, stopping at several Family Islands.

Royal Caribbean’s itinerary is also seven nights and includes stops at its private island CocoCay and Grand Bahama.

Henfield said The Bahamas has to expand this homeporting opportunity by convincing cruise passengers that they do not want to sail from US ports or any other ports again.

He added that the country has to diversify its tourism product, and insisted that Bahamians in the tourism industry have to diversity their own products on a weekly basis. 

“We have to see this as every stakeholder is an ambassador,” Henfield said.

“So, every resident has to be an ambassador. Every entrepreneur is an ambassador for business.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/tourists-tell-me-they-want-to-spend-their-money-in-the-bahamas/