In an effort to further educate the public about the
importance of the country’s number one industry, Ministry of Tourism officials
are celebrating “Tourism Week” from January 16- January 24, 2015.
During that week, tourism officials are expected to flood the
media with advertisements, interviews and messages all geared towards engaging
the public on the topic of tourism.
The week will close out the 50th anniversary of the
establishment of the tourism industry.
Chairman of Tourism Week events and Permanent Secretary
Harrison Thompson said this week is very important for The Bahamas.
“Tourism is important to our well-being. It is our chief
economic engine for the country and there are a lot of Bahamians who really
don’t understand or appreciate what tourism is all about. So under the
minister’s guidance we have set aside this week so that we would encourage
Bahamians to be a part of this process and to learn more about tourism,” he
said.
Some of the events scheduled for this week are a lecture
series to be held at the College of The Bahamas on January 16; a church service
at Zion Baptist Church on January 18; a town forum to be held at the College of
The Bahamas on Monday, January 19; a symposium for tourism frontline workers at
Superclub Breezes on Wednesday, January 21; a long-service appreciation award
ceremony at Government House on Friday, January 23 and the week will cap off
with the 16th Cacique Awards to be held at the Melia Nassau Resort on Saturday,
January 24th.
Mr. Thompson said one of the highlights of the week is the
school circuit in which tourism officials will visit and speak with students.
“It is important for them to know about tourism because you
cannot share with others about your country if you do not know about it. We
believe the captive audience is at the schools. So one of our main thrusts is
to get into the schools and share with the students what this important
industry is all about,” he said.
“We want to use this time to work with our frontline workers
in the industry and to train them to make them aware of what the service
industry is all about.”
The town forum will be hosted by Jones Communications CEO
Wendall Jones. It will include a distinguished panel of persons directly and
indirectly associated with the tourism industry.
“We have organized a forum and it would be for the public to
come and share in that forum. We will have some distinguished speakers who have
been in the tourism industry for many years and who knows the product and we
hope that we would have a good interaction with the public at that time,” Mr.
Thompson said.
“The public is also encouraged to be a part of the symposium
also. Because we believe that once we are all on the same page, we will be able
to do more for our Bahamas. Through this forum, we hope that we will be able to
educate and make our people aware of how important this is to all of us and no
matter which part of The Bahamas you live, no matter which role you play, no
what job you have – it all comes around to tourism.”