A major boating event poured approximately $2 million into the economy last weekend at the country's largest resort, according to tourism officials. The 25th Annual Showboats International Rendezvous, hosted by the executives of the Boys & Girls Club of Broward County, was designed to raise money for 12,000 at-risk youth. The annual charity is reportedly one of the largest social superyacht gatherings in the world. Earl Miller, general manager at the Bahamas Tourist Office in Florida, said the economic boost to The Bahamas came mostly from hotel nights and airlift. "We're talking about a lot of money that's being dropped into our economy.
I would say it's a couple million dollars in revenue due to lots of room nights. Then when you talk about fuel, taxis, limos, restaurants and casinos, that's even more money being pumped into the economy. Plus, some folks have chosen to either come in early or stay late. That has also added to the increase in revenue," he shared. Bahamasair was the official airline carrier for the Rendezvous event. Woody Wilson, the airline's senior sales manager for international sales, confirmed that close to 300 people traveled to Nassau from Ft. Lauderdale on Bahamasair. "We assisted them by getting the guests into the area. I am proud to say that we have talked with some of the folks, and not only did they come in but they came in on time. They said that they were looking at about 300 people coming on Bahamasair.
I was told that the numbers were not far from that. The majority of guests for this event flew in on Bahamasair," according to Wilson. Miller underscored the importance of The Bahamas hosting groups like the Boys & Girls Club of Broward County, as it has the potential to bring "mega dollars" into the national economy. He noted that it's a major priority for tourism officials because the spin-off opportunities are tremendous. "Everyone wins when we have these types of groups. Some of the boats will stay in Nassau after the event is over, while others may be going on to the Exuma Cays because a lot of them are charter yachts.
That's a priority for us, to go after chartered yachts, because they position their boats in The Bahamas and have their customers fly in, so it's a win-win situation for all tourism stakeholders including hotels, taxi drivers and others," he added. The event's organizers told Guardian Business that this year's Rendezvous was the largest to date. They also pointed out that Atlantis resort was the perfect location to host the yachting event. It was first launched in The Bahamas 25 years ago. The three-day event ended on Saturday night with a 'White Gala' in the Imperial Ballroom.
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