Obediah (Obie) Wilchcombe, Minister of Tourism
Cathy Florio, Dina Bertolo and (far right) Diana Rodriguez of ACV with Joy Jibrilu of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism
Janet Cuffie of the Bahamas with Jennifer Yang of VMC and Dale Pusching of Breezes Bahamas
Looks like this winter’s going to be a good one in the Bahamas. According to a large team of Bahamas Ministry of Tourism folks who hosted a gathering at the glitzy Trump Hotel in Toronto last week, the stars are aligning quite nicely, thank you!
Speaking about her new role as the Director General for the Ministry, York University-educated Joy Jibrilu is clearly becoming passionate about tourism. “Nature has provided the Bahamas with a seemingly perfect template: brilliant sun, clear waters and pure white sand beaches.” Canadians seemingly agree, as we are the #2 market for the country, after the U.S. With 2 gateways being added this winter from Canada, to form a total of 8, the numbers are just going tokeep growing.
Nature/ecotourism is one of the growing attractions, Jibrilu pointed out. “You can enjoy soft adventure such as kayaking through mangroves, sailing the 365 islands of the Exumas or walk among the ruins of pineapple plantations in Eleuthera.”
And, soon the jaw-dropping Bahamar project will stretch along a good part of Nassau’s Cable Beach, bringing multiple hotels, dozens of restaurants and bars and convention facilities.
To support all of this, the country announced a national advertising campaign. “Retail travel agents remain an integral link and they can look forward to more support and initiatives from our team here in Canada,” added Jibrilu.
Also speaking was the charismatic Minister of Tourism, Obediah (Obie) Wilchcombe – who will soon be featured in an exclusive interview in Open Jaw’s Biting Questions column. He singled out Sunwing for their new service to Grand Bahama where he says, “Hope has been returned.” ACV was also thanked for... “transforming Exuma. People can go to work and think about their children going to school. It has given them cause to be proud.”
In his moving speech, he was careful to thank Canadian tourists for all they do for the Bahamas. “We enjoy all you do for our country – and are happy to share with you what God has given us.”
