Against the perception that domestic tourism is often misunderstood and downplayed by Bahamians, Director General of Tourism Joy Jibrilu yesterday encouraged Bahamians to grow an interest for domestic tourism, which she said would have a valuable impact on the country.
Noting that each island of The Bahamas is unique, in an interview with The Bahama Journal, Mrs. Jibrilu admonished residents to take advantage of the natural resources available on the islands.
“Every country you go to almost, they identify how many domestic tourists there were, and the spend that comes from domestic tourism. The Bahamas is truly unique. We actively promote 16 of our islands, hence the new posters show casing the 16 islands. You go to these family islands, you never come back the same- recharged, reenergised. It’s just such an incredible experience,” she said.
The director general noted that many Bahamians shy away from travelling domestically because the perception is that travelling locally is very costly.
However she assured that that is not necessarily the case.
“We often hear the cry that is very expensive. So with partners like the out island promotion board who are running the companion fly free programme. Majestic Tours, other tour operators you can go online, and the newspapers promote it regularly. I encourage people to go ahead. You go down for three nights, two of you, and one of you will fly free. That’s immediately a savings –a holiday of a lifetime,” she continued.
Meantime, as the ministry recently boasted of a growth in tourism over the last six months, this fact it said, can also be attributed to visitors on these family islands.
Mrs. Jibrilu noted that recently, numerous developments have taken place throughout the islands that can attract international and domestic tourists alike.
“We’ve had the opening of the Hilton Hotel in Bimini, and that has attributed to exponential growth on that island. Our cays in The Exumas which no one seems to pay attention to, they are doing phenomenally well,” she said.
“There’s a phenomenon in Exuma, and they call these swimming pigs. That has generated so much buzz around the world. People are bypassing Nassau and going straight there. With all of these features on our family islands, we will continue to see growth,” she added.
