Nassau, Bahamas - Almost 500 Bahamians made history July 29 as the first graduates of the newly-revamped BahamaHost training course.

The Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and its partners made significant changes to the nation’s leading training course after it had endured more than 30 years with limited adjustments. Its focus now moves away from an emphasis on the memorization of historical and cultural facts. Instead, the course is now more customer service oriented, said Hyacinth Winder-Pratt, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, as she addressed the graduates at their graduation ceremony.

While knowledge of Bahamian history and culture is still important, a direct approach to customer service is needed to address critical customer service issues within the country, Ms. Pratt said.

“We all expect good value for money, and the visitor is no different,” she said. “We must remember that The Bahamas is not an inexpensive vacation region. The visitor pays a premium just to travel here. This would explain why we have had such great success with the recent promotions to get visitors into the country.”

Mr. Pratt pointed out that the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation’s Companion Fly Free has been described as its most successful promotion. Similarly, she said, the Two Fly Free promotion has sent great numbers of Bahamians and visitors to the Family Islands this year.

“A great deal has gone into getting travelers here,” Ms. Pratt said. “So once they are in the country, we should take full advantage of impressing them with our special brand of Bahamian service. We must ensure that we win repeat visitors and advocates for a Bahamas vacation. What we cannot do is turn our friends against us by not giving them the service for which they have paid.”

Ian Ferguson, BahamaHost consultant in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, pointed out that the revamped BahamaHost also offers a corporate training component and a new high school training program.