Sports tourism officials want to make the upcoming Tottenham Hotspur match an annual attraction, hoping it could inject new money into the country.
Joe Lewis, the British billionaire, has developed greater synergies with the Ministry of Tourism to bring his football club to Nassau.
Lewis, with an estimated wealth of $4.2 billion, is the main investor in Travistock Group and spends much of his time in Lyford Cay. He is also a key investor at Albany. This elite community in western New Providence is anticipating a possible boom in sales from athletes, fans and other well-known personalities.
David Johnson, the director general at the Ministry of Tourism, recently took part in a press conference in Orlando with Albany executives and government officials. The Ministry of Tourism received live television converge to promote the upcoming Tottenham match and The Bahamas as a destination.
"They want to sell the stars homes in Albany. But it will extend to include The Bahamas brand," he told Guardian Business. "Many of these players also have a strong fan base, many of which are affluent and will travel. And third, exposure always helps when you have the rich and famous visiting and living here."
The match against the Jamaican National Team will take place at the new $30 million Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium on May 23.
Tyrone Sawyer, director of sports tourism development, confirmed to Guardian Business that the intent is to make the Tottenham visit an annual event.
He noted that there has been very little marketing and lead up time for this inaugural installment. Once it is running on an annual basis, The Bahamas will see greater participation and synergies.
"We are not just doing it as a one off, but as a regular part of our sports tourism calendar. Once it is a regular event, we can promote it and then you're really talking about the full benefits if sports tourism," he explained.
Meanwhile, the players arriving in The Bahamas next month are already part of the "overarching and unspoken economic impact" of such an event.
Sawyer told Guardian Business that developing partnerships with the many high-networth individuals living and working in The Bahamas, such as Lewis, is a key strategy going forward at the Ministry of Tourism.
Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium will have its first real test this coming weekend with the CARIFTA Games kicking off. Sawyer said the event has generated around 2,000 room nights and a noticeable economic shot in the arm for Nassau.
By the end of this fiscal year, sports tourism should be responsible or 20,000 room nights and around $14 million in expenditure.

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