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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Left to right: Basil Smith and Bob Bower
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NASSAU, New Providence - Veteran tourism consultant, Basil H. Smith is to
become be the new executive director of the Association of Bahamas
Marinas (ABM), taking over from marketing consultant, Bob Bower, who has
served as executive director of the association for the past two years.
Formerly known as the Marina Operators of The Bahamas (MOB), the association was recently renamed and rebranded as the ABM.
A
statement issued by the association’s executive committee said, "The
ABM is extremely fortunate to acquire Basil who brings a rare level of
acumen and experience as we expand our influence and the importance of
the boating, sport fishing and marina sector to the Bahamas tourist
industry."
Smith has been consulting with the ABM and working
with interim executive director Bower since August. Bower will continue
to work closely with the association on marketing projects and the
popular Bahamas Cruising Map, published annually in autumn, and to
engage with other clients on marketing, publishing and advertising.
A
former executive vice-president of the Bahamas Hotel Association, Smith
is well known in the tourism industry, having served in the Bahamas
Ministry of Tourism in various capacities, most recently as senior
director of communications, worldwide and senior vice-president of The
Counsellors Ltd., where he functioned as editor in chief of the Bahamas
News Bureau. In Jamaica he was director of tourism and consulted in
various capacities in the tourism sector.
A statement issued by
the ABM’s executive committee said the association has “known for a long
time that our yachting and marinas sector is a huge contributor to the
Bahamas’ tourist economy, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars
and supporting many thousands of jobs throughout the country. We are
concerned that the importance of our sector has not been fully
appreciated. Foremost in Mr. Smith’s mandate, therefore, is a charge to
raise that level of awareness to enable the sector achieve its fullest
potential.”
"We are grateful to Bob Bower for his supportive role
in helping the current and past executive teams to develop our
association. We've launched our social media program and will soon
launch our website. ABM now offers more tangible membership value and
marketing power and we expect a significant rise in our total
membership—both among marinas and the allied members that depend on our
marinas and resorts to bring them business. We have much more to offer
members going forward. Our new membership categories are more flexible
and productive," said the statement.
“Now that we've rebranded
our name and identity, and have expanded our fundraising capabilities,
the scope of responsibilities of the executive directorship has grown
and requires more of a full time position. During Bob's -year term, we
forged relationships with industry partners in the public and private
sectors and we’ve started to raise our profile. We are now ready to move
to an increased level of activity with concerted local and overseas PR
and marketing activity.
"We thank Bobby for his two years of
dedicated service and for bringing us to this good juncture where we can
now embrace many new opportunities," said Kappeler. "We look forward to
working with Bob on our yearly map publication and other projects.
At
the ABM’s initial meeting in 2017 (February 9th), the association will
also outline its PR and marketing strategy and introduce new research
findings that demonstrate the huge economic impact and importance of the
marina and yachting sector to The Bahamas. According to industry
insiders, the findings are illuminating and are sure to raise some
eyebrows.
© Copyright 2017 by thebahamasweekly.com
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