CDC travel advisory rating affecting return of MICE market

The level four COVID-19 travel advisory rating imposed on The Bahamas by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is stifling the return of The Bahamas’ MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and expos) business, Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Director General Joy Jibrilu told Guardian Business, explaining that work is being done behind the scenes to change this.

Despite Baha Mar hosting the Commonwealth Law Conference and the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operations Summit (CHICOS), which begins today, Jibrilu said many companies are reluctant to bring their business here while the CDC rating remains “very high”.

The CDC explains on its website that the rating warns travelers to “avoid travel to The Bahamas”.

“If you must travel to The Bahamas, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel,” the CDC states.

Jibrilu said while the MICE market is slowly returning and the demand exists, the CDC’s red flag is stifling that growth.

“We’re still impacted by the level four rating by the CDC and for many, many companies they can’t have group business where there’s level four,” said Jibrilu. 

“There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes, now that it looks that our numbers are a lot more controlled and with the vaccination uptick, we’re getting to where we need with that.

“We know the demand is there but there are things that we have to do, to put in place, to get that level of business up.”

She explained that vertical markets like boating, diving, fishing and romance remain strong and sustained the country through the COVID-19 tourism downturn.

According to Jibrilu – who was recently at the World Travel Market expo in the UK – sustainability is the new buzz word in tourism and people, especially young people, are looking at The Bahamas for evidence that the product is employing sustainable practices.

She said all eyes have been on The Bahamas since Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis’ speech at 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference raised the country’s profile. 

“Everywhere we went in the UK, people were talking. No matter who you talked to, The Bahamas was front and center as it relates to sustainability,” said Jibrilu.

“Research is showing that with young people, if you can’t show some component of sustainability in your tourism product, they’re just not interested. 

“And so we’re ideally poised with all that we’re doing. We have a sustainable tourism unit, we’ve always had it and so that’s huge for us that we were able to promote that and that’s now taking center stage.” 

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/cdc-travel-advisory-rating-affecting-return-of-mice-market/