Tourism in Grand Bahama

By -



In all the years of the development of Freeport, Grand Bahama a lot has been said about the way to brand it.

Some say its just an industrial city and we should just focus on that.

Some are of the view that along with an industrial city, we, like the rest of The Bahamas, are a tourism destination.

Well….. over the years we have seen many industrial businesses come and go and made quite a profit.

At present we have the Bahamas Oil Refinery become a holding facility but it is still in operation. The Freeport Harbour has been dredged several times and is touted as a wonderful expansion for many of the largest ships built.

Our airport of course is large enough for most aircrafts.

On the tourism side we have seen many hotel chains come and go and now we have the large staple of the Grand Lucayan in Freeport. Not leaving out the rest of the island, we have the Old Bahama Bay in West end and numerous other smaller resorts from West End to Sweetings Cay. Some of the best I would say are in the outskirts showing the real island feel.

But if the question is - can we accommodate both …. the answer is a definitive YES!

Leaving Fort Lauderdale recently to return to Grand Bahama I noticed that not far from the airport were some bunkers which lead me to believe that near the place where tourists come in are hotels for them to stay and an industrial sector for them to pass through.

I know its the same in Miami and in many other countries.

I think we are limited only by the thoughts we have on what we are capable of doing.

If we are only industrial where will our family visitors stay? Where will the heads of these businesses reside for the few days they were here?

We already have and have had of a long time cruise ships that come to bring day passengers.

Some feel that the people are not customer friendly and for the most part I too feel that some of the service oriented persons can be a lot more inviting and give a lot better customer service. I wish that this can be addressed as soon as possible and stop the thinking that we have to be either touristic or not.

Grand Bahama has beautiful beaches and  areas and stories that should be told.

The question of tourism is like men are from mars women are from venus - we are both from here. Deal with it!








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Freeport in the 70's and 80's.

By -
Image
In a recent discussion with an acquaintance who is a long time resident of Grand Bahama, he said he hopes Freeport turns around to which I quickly reminded him of the days when we thought Freeport was going down. After the rush of the 50's and the 60s that ushered in a lot of constructions and the building of Freeport which pushed the natives to the outer areas, there came the 70s and the smaller investors leaving quickly. However, in the late 70s and early 80s there was still a lot of activity here. There were over ten big hotels on the island and two casinos. Also there was Sir Laker who came in to add Laker Airways to the airlift to this island. The industrial side was holding its own but things were beginning to taper off. Around this time there were calls of a diversification of industries in the country and to stop relying only on Tourism. Some complaints were flying that there were too many foreign croupiers and well qualified Bahamians who could do that same job Th...
Read more

Mountain top experiences

By -
Image
The Grand Bahama Port Authority is really going all out this year as they are not only hoping to bring in investors but also to create more investors/entrepreneurs at home.  This is a very favourable turn of events with the new Business Development Department. This conference would be the third event launched by the Port this year, the first being the My Grand Bahama Campaign, then the Customer Service Workshop and now the Economic Empowerment Development Conference.  As the world turns and the seasons for each place, especially Grand Bahama, is just about complete with its valley times for now, we are moving closer to the mountain and looking forward to some mountain top experiences. Here it's about setting a stage for all players to be ready. Grand Bahama will flourish with more residents. But for more residents, we need more money making reasons for people to travel and to live here.  If, for those who believe in Bahamians only, we cannot organi...
Read more

A pictorial look at Freeport 1950-1960s

By -
Image
Before hitting the great days of the 70s and 80s I found these photos of Freeport on Oldbahamas.com and thought to share them. Remember that unlike Nassau, New Providence, Freeport, Grand Bahama did not have the history. What history we have now is the growing up of Freeport and the entire island due to the formation of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement,  the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the Grand Bahama Development Company. A boom of energy and a vision that was all set, but later side tracked by the thought of sharing the profits was what we were left with and little though of how to recover and move on with proper legislation to assist all. Next week we look at the promises fulfilled by the G.B. Port Authority. Thanks again to Oldbahama.com. If you want copies of these photos just contact them for reprints.
Read more