Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said the Chinese government has allocated $8 million in grant funding for public sector projects with social, economic and touristic benefit, and has allocated $3 million under a memorandum of understanding on the provision of goods and services addressing climate change.
These are among the concrete take-aways from recent bilateral meetings between a Bahamas delegation and Chinese political and economic leaders. Other important developments include a possible strategic partnership with China on Bahamasair and discussions with well-placed principals on both travel and hotel developments.
The meetings took place on the sidelines of the First Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum (CELAC is the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States).
Wilchcombe was reporting on the trip to the House of Assembly and said the forum and bilateral meetings with the president and premier of China were followed by productive sessions with "a significant number of leading Chinese institutions, investors, financial, travel, airline, hotel, training and media interests and civic authorities, all of which impact touristic investments and outbound Chinese travel."
He said the delegation met with the chairman and senior executives of China EximBank and China State Construction Engineering Corporation, who confirmed the completion of Baha Mar by March.
"They also confirmed the start of construction for the redevelopment of the Hilton property downtown in April of this year, providing several hundred new construction and permanent jobs as well as new compelling features and attractions. Both the bank and the construction company indicated their willingness to participate in further ventures in The Bahamas," the minister said.
The delegation also met with the head and senior executives of the China National Tourism Administration, who Wilchcombe said pledged to cooperate with The Bahamas in fostering Chinese travel, promotion and training.
"They promised to immediately include The Bahamas as a destination on their website, to assist Bahamas tourism representatives in China and offered to train 20 Bahamians in the Chinese language and the facilitation of services required by Chinese tourists," Wilchcombe added.
He said chief executives and their teams from Hainan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines discussed the establishment of both direct charter and scheduled air services to The Bahamas, as well as travel arrangements with affiliated, connecting international American, Canadian and European carriers.
"Hainan expressed interest in hotel investments, management opportunities and the exploration of strategic partnership discussions with Bahamasair," he said. "The CEO and senior executives of the Jin Jiang International Holdings Company, China's largest hotel and travel conglomerate and a leading tour and travel company with a bold worldwide acquisition expansion plan, they are desirous of advancing both travel and investing in hotel developments in The Bahamas."

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