After just three months in operation, a young Bahamian's downtown food tour business hit the number one spot for Nassau activities on Trip Advisor, and is now looking to expand by hiring three to five new employees.
Inspired and committed to share her own country's culinary gifts, Bahamian entrepreneur Alanna Rodgers launched Tru Bahamian Food Tours in January of this year with a mission to connect visitors of The Bahamas with Nassau's culinary treasures and the local chefs and entrepreneurs that preserve these traditions.
Recently named one of the "Top 40 Under 40" Bahamians making a difference in the country by The Tribune, Rodgers' decision to launch the tour stems from her acute awareness of the role that cuisine plays in a country's unique character and cultural expression.
"Tru Bahamian Food Tours was founded to offer visitors a truly authentic local culinary experience and an opportunity to eat, drink and discover what I am convinced is our islands' most unexplored cultural treasure - our cuisine!" said Rodgers, who previously founded Hands for Hunger, a local non-profit that seeks to reduce hunger and food waste.
Tru Bahamian Food Tours experienced a major milestone earlier this year, when after only three months of operating its signature Bites of Nassau Food Tasting and Cultural Walking Tour, the company earned a coveted number one ranking on Tripadvisor as the top rated Nassau activity - out of more than 100 listed.
After operating its tours at almost full capacity for the past several months, Tru Bahamian Food Tours is now looking to expand its business through increased daily tours and later, additional signature culinary experiences and events.
"The last eight to 12 weeks have been exciting for us because our tours have been selling out regularly," said Rodgers.
"To meet the increasing demand, we're currently in the process of recruiting new tour guides and scaling our tour offerings so that we're able to begin operating multiple tours daily before the end of 2013."
As a result, the small business has launched a recruitment effort to hire passionate and charismatic tour guides, aiming to hire three to five new guides before the year ends.
Rodgers said the Trip Advisor credential has been significant for the small business because visitors rely heavily on the site, and other travel review sources, as influencing factors in their decisions about what to do and how to spend their time while traveling throughout The Bahamas.
The rankings are issued not only on sheer number of reviews, but on the basis of complicated algorithms that take into consideration the frequency, ratings and quality of the reviews written by past guests.
"Our guests tend to be individuals who think very carefully about how to spend their time while in Nassau, whether that's for a few hours or an entire week, and they consider many third party review sites to help inform them prior to making these decisions," said Rodgers.
"The credibility we have built up through what is now more than 250 past guest reviews on Tripadvisor serves as the foundation for the majority of our tour bookings.
It is, undoubtedly, a critical tool in our ongoing efforts to grow and scale our business," the entrepreneur added. In addition to positive guest reviews, prominent media coverage and international exposure have also contributed to the small company's rapid growth and bookings success.
Multinational news corporations and online sources highlighting the Bites of Nassau Food Tour in the last few months include: UK Daily Mail, Fox News, Harper's Bazaar, Travelweekly.com, Independenttraveler.com, RTE Travel, Epoch Times and Cruisecritic.com, among others.
Though a small percentage of Tru Bahamian Food Tours guests are comprised of local clientele, Bahamians who have experienced the tour for themselves have also been highly complimentary of the experience. Bahamian resident, Yvette Simms, wrote in an online review:
"This tour really treats you to a glimpse of The Bahamas in a way never seen before and opens your eyes to the richness of our little melting pot.
This is an experience not to be missed!
I'm a Bahamian (born and bred) and I loved it!" Operating Monday through Saturday, the Bites of Nassau Food Tasting and Cultural Walking Tour takes guests into the heart of old Nassau's historic commercial and political center, offering unique and entertaining cultural insights on the city's history, colonial architecture and diverse culinary community.
All tours include: Food and drink tastings from seven local restaurants, a guided city tour, exclusive tasting location coupons and signature recipe collections.
Tour groups are kept intentionally small and intimate, accommodating up to a maximum of 12 guests at a time.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
