Ministry Of Tourism looking for new market strategy for Family Islands

Successful Historic Branding Workshop Held In Eleuthera

(Eleuthera, The Bahamas) - The Ministry of Tourism recently successfully held an historic Branding Strategy Workshop for the island of Eleuthera. It was part of a new initiative, beginning with three top family island destinations - Eleuthera, Exuma and Abaco to market these islands as individual destinations in their own right. 

(Main Caption: (L-R) - International Branding Consultant, Mr. Alessio Poluzzi; Ms. Jacqueline Gibson, Acting Manager, Eleuthera Tourism Office; Mr. Stephen Kappeler, President of the Out Islands Promotion Board and Manager of the Cape Eleuthera Resort and Marina,;Ms. Glenda Johnson, Eleuthera Tourism Office Mr. Earlston McPhee, Director of Sustainable Development with the Ministry of Tourism)

This  initiative follows a vision voiced by Minister of Tourism, Vincent Vanderpool Wallace that the Islands of The Bahamas be looked at as a region with unique individual islands more so than one destination. 

The workshop sought to garner information from the widest possible cross-section of stakeholders within the Eleuthera populace on what makes the island unique amongst all the other competing island destinations within the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Some of the many Stakeholders in Eleuthera who participated in the historic Branding Strategy Workshop hosted by the Ministry of Tourism on June 28th.

According to Mr. Earlston McPhee, Director of Sustainable Development with the Ministry of Tourism, and presenter during the workshop - this “directly from the people” information can now be used to develop authentic branding and promotional campaigns for the three test islands, which would be fully delivered by the local population – resulting in a visitor truly experiencing what is being promoted in the market.

International Consultant, Mr. Alessio Poluzzi, along with Mr. Earlston McPhee presented at the workshop and gathered feedback.  Poluzzi arrived in the Bahamas on Saturday, June 19th and was scheduled to depart on July 1st.  During his time here, he toured the three islands – Abaco, Exuma and Eleuthera, including Harbour Island – assessing the island destinations. The Eleuthera workshop was held On Monday, June 28th.

Organizers at the local Tourism office in Governor’s Harbour, Ms. Jacqueline Gibson, Acting Manager, and Ms. Glenda Johnson were very pleased with the turnout of nearly 50 persons and active participation during the morning workshop.

Persons from a variety of areas were represented, including farming, retail, real estate, local government, police, conservation, aviation, postal services, hospitality and others – all interested in contributing their input on how The Eleutheras should be branded in the global marketplace.

Stephen Kappeler, President of the Out Islands Promotion Board and Manager of the Cape Eleuthera Resort and Marina, participated in the event and came away excited about the prospect of this new and stronger initiative by the Ministry of Tourism to redefine a number of the family islands as individual destinations.  In conversation with The Eleutheran, he highlighted the fact that the top 5 hotel destinations in the Bahamas on the independent online survey, “Trip Advisor”, were actually family island hotels, and not the mega resorts found in Nassau/Paradise Island.

Ms. Charity Armbrister, Director for the Central and Southern Bahamas, with the Ministry of Tourism, and based in Exuma, reported that the workshop held there was also seen as very successful with more than 30 persons – also from a wide cross-section of the society participating.

Cross-Section of the participants in the MOT’s Branding Workshop held in Exuma.

Mr. Mcphee, after leaving Eleuthera, and reporting a number of the findings on the three islands in a meeting with the Director General, Vernice Walkine and others, said that funding for furthering and implementing this new initiative is currently being negotiated with the Inter-American Development Bank which has shown a keen interest in supporting this push.  Mcphee also further commented that the timing between this information gathering and securing funding stage to tangible marketing and promotional campaigns being implemented would be approximately 8 – 9 months.

Image Gallery