Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe yesterday expressed his disappointment in the satirical infomercial on downtown Nassau created by Joseph Oster and Casey Gill, a Disney Cruise Line employee, but suggested it was a wake up call for The Bahamas.

“Yes, I was disappointed but I’m not going to throw it all in the trash without an appreciation that it might have been a wake up call for all of us to appreciate that if we don’t take care of business, what will happen and how easy things can happen,” Wilchcombe said.

“So I think all of us should look at it, and every Bahamian should know that we are always on the watch.

“People are always out there talking about you.

“But again, let’s ensure that they are saying good things.”

While the video appears satirical, there is a clear message being driven that downtown Nassau lacks cultural attractions, quality dining options and is ultimately a dump.

The over three-minute video was uploaded to Gill’s Facebook page.

Disney Cruise Line has distanced itself from the disparaging video, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” by the mock infomercial.

When contacted and shown the video, the company said Disney Cruise Line did not sanction the video.

“We also want to point out that we have enjoyed staying in The Bahamas since 1998,” the company said.

“Our ships are flagged in The Bahamas.

“The views in the video do not reflect our company’s views.”

Wilchcombe said that despite his disappointment, he has to be realistic, and there are some outstanding things that the country has to deal with.

He explained that the responsibility for garbage collection and disposal at the dock is not the responsibility of the government, but the cruise lines.

However, he said the government has a responsibility to ensure that the port is always clean, and that our environment is of the highest internationally accepted standard.

“We are welcoming not only guests, but Bahamians live here [as well],” Wilchcombe said.

“We should ensure that we have a clean port and that at all times we are making sure that when the guests come, he will see something that he will treasure and be able to talk about, because word of mouth is so important.”

He referred to an excerpt from the country’s national anthem, “March on Bahamaland”, which says the world should “mark the manner of our bearing”.

“It talks about our ideals, what we do and the things that we should be very concerned about in our country,” he said.

“If we do that then the world will be talking wonderful and great things about the country and that’s what I want to do.”

Wilchcombe said since watching the video he has been made even more aware of the fact that if the tourists who visit do not see or experience The Bahamas that they’ve heard so much about, they are more likely to send a negative report or information about the country.

As of Sunday evening, the video went viral, obtaining over 69,000 views on Facebook and over 1,500 shares. There was mixed reaction to the video on social media. Some expressed appreciation for the satire; others, including Bahamians, accepted there were a lot of truths in the video.

The video has since been removed from Gill’s Facebook page.