The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) is preparing to launch a "dynamic marketing, sales and promotional" initiative geared toward "moving the needle" on this country's stagnant tourist numbers, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism Joy Jibrilu said yesterday. And the MOT is launching with global Public Relations firm Weber Shandwick at the tiller.
Jibrilu, who spoke to reporters following her presentation to the Rotary Club of South East Nassau, said Weber Shandwick had been promoting The Bahamas for 18 years before the country's tourism ministry decided to try its hand at marketing and public relations on its own.
In the wake of several firings at the MOT and the hiring of Weber Shandwick following soon after, Bahamians began to criticize the ministry for favoring foreign firms over Bahamian labor.
But Jibrilu explained that Weber Shandwick has more of a global reach than the ministry on its own was ever able to achieve, lamenting that despite the best efforts of the MOT's in-house marketing team "the learning curve was steep".
She said it was the idea of former Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe to sever ties with Weber Shandwick in favor of in-house marketing efforts.
"Tourism is the most competitive economic sector in the world," Jibrilu said.
"So engaging a juggernaut like Weber Shandwick who is the PR agency of record for Google (ETC)... they are most excited about the islands of The Bahamas," she said.
"I don't discount the years we have been doing it on our own. The learning curve was steep, [but] we are smarter we are wiser and I think now we come to the table as equals. So engaging them we know what we want from them, and we are demanding it instead of having it dictated to us.
"It's just that they have a reach that we do not have at this time. I do look forward to a time when Bahamians can have our own in-house agency that can compete with the Weber Shandwicks of the world."
Jibrilu said the country's upcoming marketing campaigns are all calibrated to heighten the presence of The Bahamas' brand in the marketplace. Meantime her ministry is focused on revitalizing the country's number one industry, in order to grow it.
"The most vigorous marketing is futile if they (tourists) arrive onshore and find a product that is much to be desired," she said.
"It is imperative that we refurbish our tourism product, transforming our destination into a dynamic tourism hotspot where more facets of the tourism product are pleasing to us first of all, and by extension to our visitors... a destination where there's a wide array of authentic visitor experiences... a destination where the delivery of service quality is legendary."

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