Tourism Minister the Hon. Obadiah Wilchcombe, as he addressed an audience at the Grand Lucayan Resort on Monday morning regarding new cruises to Grand Bahama. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)

Freeport, Grand Bahama – Grand Bahama’s tourism sector is expected to grow significantly in 2015 according to both the Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville and Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Obadiah Wilchcombe.

Their comments came during a press conference at the Grand Lucayan Resort on Monday morning, December 15, to announce the expanded service of the Balearia Bahamas Express and the MS Grand Celebration.

Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Gladstone Christie was the featured speaker at Monday’s function, also expressing some confidence in the growth of the island’s tourism sector.

The MS Grand Celebration is described as a new cruise line that will sail out of the Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island in early February 2015, filling the void left by the Celebration which was extensively damaged several weeks ago.

The new vessel is far superior with 10 public decks and 750 large cabins and terrace suites, with more than sixty percent having an ocean view. The public areas, including restaurants, spa, casino, theatre, nightclub and pool deck with five pools and Jacuzzis are all said to be top-notch.

The cruise line will offer two-night cruises and cruise-and-Bahamas resort stay-vacation packages from four to eight nights. The MS Grand Celebration will sail every other day of the week. In Grand Bahama to make the announcement was Glenn Ryerson, Executive Vice-President of the Grand Celebration.

Hernan Calvo, CEO of Balearia, confirmed to the audience assembled at the Grand Lucayan Resort that their new $100 million vessel has arrived. The new vessel was built by the Balearia group in Spain four years ago, and is one of the newer of the 20 vessels that the company has in its fleet.

The super fast cruise ferry sails up to 23 knots and in addition to her transit time, passengers can enjoy the whole cruise experience. Amenities include a full buffet restaurant, casino, a la cart restaurant, barbecues, bars, entertainment for children, spa and a tropical pool bar. This new vessel has a 1,000-passenger and 200-container capacity and will be sailing almost daily from Freeport at 7:00 p.m., and from Fort Lauderdale at 8:00a.m.

With this new venture, the Balearia will be creating up to 30 new direct jobs in The Bahamas, and approximately 150 indirect jobs.

Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville told the gathering “I am excited that next year, Grand Bahama will experience a major boost in our local economy. As Minister for Grand Bahama I remain optimistic about the future and as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, I am convinced that we have weathered the worst part of the storm and better days lie ahead,” he stated.

Dr. Darville went on to thank the Prime Minister for his commitment to the island of Grand Bahama and for his efforts to turn the local economy around and create jobs. He also had high praises for the Minister of Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism on Grand Bahama for all the work they are doing for the island.

Likewise, Dr. Darville thanked “private sector partners for their optimism in Grand Bahama and would like them to note that the Ministry for Grand Bahama remains committed to implementing feasible economic plans and assures them that our doors are always open.”

Minister Wilchcombe said that we must continue in our quest to become the greatest little nation in the entire world, but that for us to be the greatest then our people must be the greatest.

He told the gathering that “our announcement today is inclusive of the involvement of the Bahamian people. The partners that we have, come with an understanding of what the objectives are. They have come to be business partners, they have come to move our tourism economy. They have come to assist this island of Grand Bahama in its return to the glory days.

“But to do so, the Bahamian people are important. They are important in the work place, they are important to cause our country to move up the ladder. The truth is we lost some ground. We lost ground in the last several years, but now we are back up. We are now number five in the rankings in the Caribbean behind countries like the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and Cuba and Jamaica, then of course it is The Bahamas.” He stated: “Our goal is to be number one…. To be number one we have to attach to everything we do the quality of service. We must be more than sun, sand and sea, we must be sun, sand, sea and service,” the Minister of Tourism stated.

“We must ensure that the quality of our people, the quality of what we deliver in our country is just high above all others. To do so, we in Grand Bahama must come together. We must ensure that we are working together.”

He went on to applaud the efforts being made by Mr. Russell Miller as it relates to his work in the tourism sector and the contribution of the former Director General of Tourism, Mr. David Johnson who he said was instrumental in the negotiations with both cruise companies.

Likewise he also thanked the owner of Carnival Cruise lines whom he described as having a relationship with The Bahamas, and did what he could to cause the Grand Celebration to come to Grand Bahama.

“So all the players, all who understand, all who have done so much, all we have to do is deliver the service. We have to ensure that The Bahamas is simply number one. We cannot compromise and all of us involved in this business must give it all that we have,” he said.