Deputy Director General of Tourism Ellison "Tommy" Thompson yesterday elaborated on the new tourism marketing campaign designed to aid the hurricane-afflicted Southern Bahamas. The first phase of the initiative cost $300,000, according to the tourism executive.
The islands most heavily impacted by the Category 4 Hurricane Joaquin include Acklins, Crooked Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador and Long Island.
Said Thompson, "We designed a specific campaign for the islands affected by Hurricane Joaquin, because we saw that tourism was the best way for them to be self-sufficient and regenerate their economies. So we had a campaign with Bonnier Media Corporation in order to get those specific niche magazines or niche publications -- both online and offline -- to promote those particular islands."
Thompson explained that the ministry worked to identify the niche markets peculiar to each island and work with Bonnier to ensure that editors from the corporation's publications experienced each island and wrote about it.
Bonnier is a media group working in TV, daily newspapers, business and trade press, magazines, film, books, radio and digital media. The group is based in the Nordic region but has a substantial presence in the U.S., Germany, the U.K. and Eastern Europe among other places.
Bonnier has operations in 14 countries around the world and over 8,000 employees, and its publications include American Photo, Boating, Cruising World, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, Field & Stream, Florida Travel + Life, Outdoor Life, Sailing World, Salt Water Sportsman, Saveur, Scuba Diving, Sport Diver, Sport Fishing, Yachting and National Geographic magazines.
The company has business and trade brands, as well as popular digital brands, newspapers and other media platforms.

Product development
Meanwhile, Turnquest said the ministry was working with the tourism plant in these islands.
"We are going in to develop the product side of it. So we have had discussions with the hoteliers about our strategies to ensure that they are developing products to exploit the niche markets, which our marketing and sales efforts would then support," he said.
Thompson stressed that these investments -- the marketing dollars, the sales dollars, the time and expertise -- would not yield an immediate return.
"This is an investment to get those islands back up on their feet, and within three to five years, what we want to do is be able to see groups of people coming down to take advantage of those niche markets. If we get three of four groups in there each month, that's quite a benefit to those islands. But it takes an initial investigation in order to get the initiative going," he said.

Efficient spend
And speaking of dollars, Thompson spoke to the efficacy of in-house management of tourism marketing.
According to Thompson, the marketing dollars are being spent in an effective and efficient way, particularly since The Bahamas no longer uses external agencies but coordinating marketing activities in-house.
"The marketing has actually changed quite a bit. There's a lot bigger digital component in what we're doing.
"Also, what we have to do is that in those gateways where we have direct services, we have to make sure that we are propping those up. If there are new markets that we are going into, we have to make sure that those are getting their attention," he said.
Thompson asserted that reopening and expanding the network of Bahamas Tourism Offices (BTOs) has yielded direct and significant benefit.
The Bahamas number one tourism market is the United States, followed by Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom, Latin America and Asia.

Bahamian Donte Armbrister has advanced to the quarter-finals of the Under-16 Junior International Tennis Championships currently ongoing in San Salvador, El Salvador. He defeated Guillermo Torres of Puerto Rico 6-4 and 6-3 in the round of 16 and will now play Patrick Sydow of Aruba in his next match. (Photo: Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association)

One Bahamian is moving on while the other fell in the quarter-finals in the main draw of the under-16 Junior International Tennis Championships (JITIC), currently ongoing in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Donte Armbrister won his second round match while Sydney Clarke lost in the quarters.

Clarke fell to Maria Rivera, from Guatemala, in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-3. According to reports, Clarke played very well but was unable to advance. She made it all the way to the semi-finals of last year's U14 JITIC, and her quarter-final appearance at this year's U16 JITIC is a noteworthy accomplishment -- a positive follow-up to her prior JITIC results.

Also, the other Bahamian female at the event, Afrika Smith, played really well against Ana Sofia Segura, of the host nation El Salvador, according to reports. They played in the consolation round, and Smith lost 6-3 and 6-4. Both Clarke and Smith made it to the main draw competition after qualifying in round-robin matches.

On the boys side, Armbrister was victorious in his second round match, knocking off Guillermo Torres, of Puerto Rico, 6-4 and 6-3. He now moves on to the quarters where he plays Patrick Sydow of Aruba. Due to a great round-robin performance, Armbrister received a bye into the second round. He is yet to lose a match as he won his two round-robin matches in qualifying and is through to the quarters. Armbrister is ranked third in the main draw.

Kofi Bowe played at a high level in consolation but lost to Mateo Quiros, of the host nation El Salvador, 6-4 and 6-2. He will participate in the U14 JITIC, taking place next week, again in El Salvador.

Armbrister is coming off a splendid U14 JITIC finals appearance last year. Now competing in the under-16 category, he is playing well as he continues to represent The Bahamas in regional play.

The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) wishes all of the players well.

The JITIC competition has the top juniors in the Caribbean and Latin America competing for the title of the "best of the best" in junior tennis in this region.

Former Free National Movement Chairman Darron Cash

FORMER Free National Movement Chairman Darron Cash claimed yesterday the party’s national convention had been “stained” as a result of alleged “underhanded actions” by the party’s incumbent leadership.

Mr. Cash told The Tribune that while some in the party may view his comments as “bitter claims,” he believes that those “with eyes to see and ears to hear” could decipher the “façade” being presented by Dr. Hubert Minnis’ regime.

He outlined a litany of instances where delegates in support of Loretta Butler-Turner and Dr. Duane Sands as leader and deputy leader bids were ill-advised, forcing many of them to be overlooked for the party’s final delegates list, echoing statements he made earlier this month.

“There has been a gross lack of transparency when it comes to the organisation, and when it comes to the sharing of information and when it comes to simple things like a level playing field in how you treat delegates,” he said at the Melià hotel, where the party’s convention is taking place.

Mr. Cash alleged that organisation of the convention was removed from the party’s national office and exclusively handled by the Office of the Leader of the Opposition - a move he described as “grossly inappropriate.”

As a result, he said the entire convention process has been carried out without transparency at every level.

“We have had situations where travel arrangements for delegates were to be organised by the national party office. It was taken away from the national party office and put in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. Inappropriate, highly inappropriate,” he claimed.

“The offshoot of that is you have claims by delegates who are saying, ‘the party is taking care of my travel arrangements, I have yet to receive a ticket.’ And the instances where these sorts of things are taking place do not suggest simple mistakes, simple slip-ups. They appear to be a systematic effort to disenfranchise people who look to be in support of Loretta Butler-Turner and Duane Sands.”

As a former chairman, Mr. Cash was integral in organising the party’s 2014 national convention.

He went on to insist that at that time, he sought to ensure a fair playing field. “When I operated as chairman I made sure that both sides, Loretta Butler-Turner and Dr. Minnis were equally represented on the Rules and Credentials Committee and all of those disputes that came before the committee were resolved through negotiation and compromise.”

However, Mr. Cash claimed he has not seen the same actions from current Chairman Sidney Collie.

“This convention has been organised in the midst of a very tough leadership battle and what has become fairly evident is that in organising this convention the leader and the chairman have done it in such a way that democracy, fair play, good taste are not on display when it comes to how the people who are running in opposition to them are being treated,” he said.

The FNM’s constitution calls for roughly six delegates from each constituency contested during the last election.

Additionally, various associations within the party are allowed to name up to ten delegates. Members of the party’s Executive Committee are also delegates. Mr. Cash was recently removed from that committee by Dr. Minnis, meaning he cannot vote in the convention.

According to Mr. Cash, Dr. Minnis and his team were able to amass a strong following by kick-starting associations that had stalled after the FNM’s defeat in the 2012 general election, installing their supporters in several other constituencies and removing non-supporters from associations throughout the party.

There are no constitutional directives that specify how delegates are selected at the constituency association level. Every constituency association is allowed to select its delegates as it sees fit.

Mr. Cash continued: “The leader and his chairman have spent the last several months sowing seeds of discord. Their haste to name candidates ahead of a convention; their meddling in constituency associations and their moves to install certain figures in certain positions - the point has been clear for a while now.

“And so, I think there is a black mark, a stain on this convention in the way a convention that ought to be promoting unity has in fact been doing the opposite.”

By Ricardo Wells, Tribune Staff Reporter

RABA Research Poll Shows Loretta Butler-Turner Favored by 13 Points To Put Together a FNM Leadership Team

A survey of 350 Free National Movement (FNM) voters conducted via phone from May 9, 2016 through June 17, 2016, shows that they overwhelmingly prefer a leadership team selected by Loretta Butler-Turner (36%) as opposed to Hubert Minnis (17%) or Brent Symonette (22%).

The RABA Research survey finds widespread dissatisfaction with the current state of the FNM. When asked to describe the FNM, 54% of delegates (190 out of the 350 surveyed) agreed with a statement that said: “The FNM is a mess. It needs a new leader as soon as possible if it is going to win.” Only 31% of delegates were satisfied with the current state of the FNM, while 14% did not have an opinion.

Particularly noteworthy was self-identified party preference. When asked which party would they choose if the election were held today, 39% either did not know or refused to give an answer. For nearly 2 in 5 members of the party faithful to be uncertain about which party to support is deeply problematic for FNM, and demonstrates how unhappy they are with the state of their party.

By David Kochel