Minister of Tourism & Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, supported by his Industry Training team, addresses BahamaHost graduates.

Nassau, Bahamas -  The Ministry of Tourism has eliminated its Director of Product Development post to focus on the more important element of tourism, the visitor’s experience, Minister of Tourism & Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace told hundreds of BahamaHost graduates Monday night.

As taxi drivers, jet ski operators, airport workers and others were graduated from BahamaHost, Minister Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that his Ministry replaced the Director of Product position with the Director of Visitor Experience post. This, he said, took the focus of buildings and physical attributes and brought the human perspective that all tourism elements must result in guests being pleased with their vacation experience in the country.

Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said tourism and hospitality experts for a long time convinced themselves that marketing was largely about advertising.

“But at the end of the day, the most powerful part of marketing, we all know, is word of mouth,” he said. “Where does word of mouth come from? It comes from the experience that the visitor has in the Bahamas. It is the most powerful form of marketing.”

What the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation has done with the visitors’ experience is remarkable although largely unpublicized, the Minister said.

“We have spent more money than ever before in history making sure we get the visitor’s experience right as opposed to spending money overseas (advertising) to keep talking about the whole thing over and over again,” he said. “Because in today’s world, you can’t fool people anymore. There is something that happened that made word of mouth more powerful and more important than ever before. Do you know what that thing is? It is the internet.”

Minister Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that marketing professionals have coined the term “digital word of mouth” to describe a powerful form of internet marketing. The term refers to the comments people post online to relate their experiences with a product or service.People often post these comments after a vacation.

“The problem now in our days is that when someone goes to the computer and puts that phrase or that feeling in about their experience in the Bahamas, it is there permanently,” he said. “So it is more important than ever before, and that is why you see us investing so much more and making sure the experience is right. I’m delighted to tell you that it has been getting better.”

Minister Vanderpool-Wallace lauded two enduring Ministry of Tourism programs for their impact on the visitors’ experience – BahamaHost and People to People. He pointed out thathe was involved from the beginning of both programs. They were particularly valuable because of the focus they brought to improving how guests experienced the country, he said.

The Minister reported that since 2005 visitor surveys revealed that they have had better and better experiences in the country. It was people like the BahamaHost graduates who make all the difference because they engage guests on a personal level, he said.

“The most important people in the Bahamas tourism sector in the Bahamas are the people who touch the visitor directly,” Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said. “We don’t seem to understand that many times.”

Meanwhile, Minister Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation has adopted a purpose statement that calls for all staff to identify and attract visitors who can significantly enrich the people and economy of The Bahamas and then deliver to them the kinds of experiences that compel them to tell their friends and relatives that it is better in The Bahamas. He said BahamaHost is one way that the Ministry is ensuring that those experiences are being delivered.