Director General Joy Jubrilu; Minister of Tourism, Obie Wilchcombe; Seleni Matus, Sustainable Travel International; Federico Gonzalez-Denton, RCL's Associate VP Government Relations for Latin American and the Caribbean; Tourism Deputy Director General, Tommy Thompson

Tourism stakeholders constructing action plan to improve sustainability

Nassau, Bahamas – March 25, 2015: Today The Bahamas will learn the current sustainability status and competitive position of its most popular tourist destination Nassau/Paradise Island, serving as the first step in the journey toward sustainable destination management.

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (BMOT) will be announcing the results of the Rapid Sustainable Destination Diagnostic for Nassau and Paradise Island as part of its participation in the Sustainable Destinations Alliance for the Americas (SDAA).

After several months of working with the Alliance’s implementation and convening partner Sustainable Travel International, The Bahamas is now ready to share publicly the initial results of the destination assessment and its action agenda that responds to the risks identified.

“Today marks an important milestone in Nassau and Paradise Island’s journey towards sustainability,” said lead assessor Seleni Matus of Sustainable Travel International.

“Preliminary results indicate that there has been solid progress made on many of the internationally recognized critical indicators for sustainable destination management. However, there are many areas that need urgent attention around which local leaders will define a collective response.”

The SDAA is the largest-scale effort to date through which public and private entities have united to focus on destination sustainability in the Americas.

Through the support of Alliance partner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., participation in the SDAA program is assisting tourism leaders in Nassau and Paradise Island to better balance the protection of the islands’ rich natural and cultural assets with improved management of long-term risks, while appealing to the growing tourism market interested in responsible management practices and authentic travel experiences.

Tourism executives and stakeholders review destination assessment results.

The Bahamas is involved in a three-step process. The first phase was completed in February with Bahamian stakeholders working closely together to evaluate and assess the destination.

The second and current phase brought nearly 70 local leaders and experts together to validate the results of the assessment and to chart a course of action to address priority risks and opportunities identified.

“This process is effectively involving stakeholders who have all given great ideas and opinions and are playing a role in improving the country. I think this exercise, will move us towards having a tourism product and an entire destination that is sustainable in every sense of the word,” said Eric Carey, Executive Director of the Bahamas National Trust.

Cultural historian Arlene Nash Ferguson added: “I’m hoping that our collective minds and brainstorming will produce a change that will be of tremendous benefit to The Bahamas not only environmentally, but economically, and socially etc. It is possible for our culture and our heritage to perish as well, so this allows us to look at those things that we treasure in our way of life and plan ways to maintain and preserve them for Bahamians and visitors to experience for many years to come.”

In the final phase of SDAA, a destination-monitoring framework will be created for The Bahamas through the development of a proprietary digital Destination Management System (DMS). Collected data can be input into this system, providing the tools to develop customized measurement reports and report on successes.

Additional support will be offered to educate and train stakeholders on sustainable tourism practices, and to craft enhanced market positioning focused on sustainability storytelling.

The Bahamas is one of seven Caribbean and Central American destinations chosen to participate in the SDAA program. Other participants are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Honduras, Jamaica, and Nicaragua.