NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The country’s tourism brand remains robust and resilient, according to Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who noted that the largest resorts have witnessed an uptick in occupancy projections for the first three months compared to the same period in 2023.
Cooper, while addressing the issue in Parliament, noted that the Nassau Cruise Port has also experienced an increase in cruise passengers visiting in 2024 compared to January-March 2023, signaling renewed interest and confidence in The Bahamas as a premier cruise destination.
Cooper said that despite some negative impacts as a result of international reports on the country’s crime wave, Cooper, the Tourism, Aviation and Investment Minister, noted that the country’s tourism brand continues to be robust and resilient.
“While there were two separate, very significant spikes of negative press coverage and social media, following the State Department news and then the assault allegations, both the press coverage and social media engagement fell quickly after each spike. By February 7th, overall coverage had returned nearly to pre-advisory levels,” said Cooper.
Cooper noted that the coverage and discussion of the advisory in The Bahamas was, in many instances, intertwined with coverage of the US Travel Warning about Jamaica.
“The level of engagement online and through news outlets globally for Jamaica surpassed that of The Bahamas by 43 percent. Most tourist destinations carry at least a Level 2 USA advisory, as we do, which indicates that the US government advises visitors to take precautions, but Jamaica is at Level 3, which means that the U.S. State Department advises its citizens to reconsider travel to the destination. We are aware that heightened concerns about a regional neighbor can affect perceptions about safety throughout the region,” said Cooper.
“This is why we have spent a lot of time seeking to educate international partners, media, and travel audiences, emphasizing that we are a distinct archipelago of 700 islands within the broader Caribbean region. Although any negative coverage of our country is distressing and something we take seriously, I want to note that our analytics indicate that only 8 percent of online coverage of The Bahamas over the relevant time period was focused on crime. These negative stories were disseminated against a backdrop of stories featuring either positive or neutral coverage.”
Cooper said that the negative stories are losing momentum, and our efforts to put forward our own positive story are taking effect and will continue.
“We are satisfied that our strategy, which reflects significant industry and stakeholder input, is on course, will continue to reverse negative repercussions, and will be part of our larger efforts to achieve success for the industry and the country. We know that at the beginning of the year, positive interest in The Bahamas was trending up. We capitalized on the momentum generated by early January’s surge, which showcased the excellence of Bahamian tourism through targeted amplification and retargeting initiatives,” said Cooper.
He further noted that the ministry has crafted a marketing strategy aimed at mitigating the impact on the country’s tourism product and national image.
“Our goals are to deepen market penetration, promote a reassuring narrative, and amplify The Bahamas brand to a wider audience. We plan to continue to saturate social media with authentic, positive stories. We have already begun an international media blitz, and I have appeared on several international travel media programs. We have shared proactive press releases throughout global tourism networks that shed a positive light on the country. We have contacted travel publications to share positive stories. And our content from Visiting Journalist Program trips will be posted and shared,” said Cooper.
