Old Bahama Bay, a unique facility located at the tip of West End, Grand Bahama, is noted for repeat visitors. One of the prime elements, present at Old Bahama Bay, that keeps visitors coming back, is the sports program.
A nice mix of water sports greatly compliments the resort package and the driving force behind the sports features is hospitality veteran Harold Rolle. The personable Rolle with his ever-friendly/pleasant manner is another version of Vernal Sands, the iconic tourism ambassador.
Guests flow in for delightful experiences in bone fishing, deep-sea fishing, hobie cat sailing, kayaking and the coastline favorite of paddle boarding. There's volleyball and table tennis as well. Most necessary, for progress of the industry though, are sports tourism deliverers like Rolle.
The Harold Rolles of the industry have the art of selling sports tourism refined to a science. In the budding era of a potentially vibrant national sports industry that connects so well with tourism, Rolle's outlook ought to be emulated throughout the system. He has a deep mindset of delivering quality service.
"We do away with the solicitation factor. We don't have that. What we do is provide guests with the kind of service they yearn to have over and over again. Our sports features are driven to provide the total enjoyment level. It is amazing to see our guests getting the ultimate satisfaction through the sports features we provide," said Rolle.
The new director of sports for the Ministry of Tourism, Greg Rolle, is presently strongly focusing on assessing the many options of the Bahamian sports tourism product. Properties like Old Bahama Bay with "role" players like Harold Rolle, Director Rolle will no doubt be giving great consideration, as he seeks to expand the national sports tourism brand.
"We feel good about what we represent in the industry. We can speak of the Mike Schmidt Tournament, the Marine Max Tournament and the Snapper Tournament. They add to the group of sports features at old Bahama Bay. We are at the point whereby, it's heavily about service and ensuring that our sporting experience is the best one could expect anywhere in the world. The Mike Schmidt and Marine Max tournaments have been a part of us for 10 years now. The Snapper Tournament is newer but a growing attraction. That's the event that adds to the domestic flavor at Old Bahama Bay," informed Rolle.
There is indeed building enthusiasm at Old Bahama Bay over the increasing number of domestic tourists. Rolle confirmed as much.
"Yes, more and more of the Bahamian guests are getting into the picture at our property. They are beginning to understand how they can enjoy the wonderful times, that foreign visitors have been taking advantage of, for years. I would say that our weekend occupancy is upwards of 15 percent domestic now and the trend is one of growth," said Rolle.
He pointed out that there just needs to be recognition among Bahamians from around the country who travel, that there are places right inside The Bahamas that offer the same enjoyment or better than Florida or elsewhere. Rolle sees a "time coming in the not too distant future" when domestic tourists will become satisfied that for them also, "It's Better In The Bahamas".
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