http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=10828

Have any of you read this news article?

http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=10828
Have any of you read this news article?


Yeah, its something we always knew.

They need to show that there are also people very pleased with the Bahamas. I guess for some its hard to come to grips that everyone will not have the ideal stay and there will be dissatisfaction regardless of what we do or what is ever done.

Sad though but reality.

Yeah, its something we always knew.
They need to show that there are also people very pleased with the Bahamas. I guess for some its hard to come to grips that everyone will not have the ideal stay and there will be dissatisfaction regardless of what we do or what is ever done.Sad though but reality.


That's the truth. I was reading an article where this lady came to Nassau for her wedding. On the day of the wedding she took a swim in the ocean and was bitten by a jellyfish, she became mad at Atlantis accusing them of ruining her dream wedding.

On the hand, some Bahamians are still just nasty to the tourist. We need to continue with these training and feedbacks, give them what they want even if it's silly, all we want to know is that they enjoyed their stay, so The Bahamas can continue to be on top of the game.

That's the truth. I was reading an article where this lady came to Nassau for her wedding. On the day of the wedding she took a swim in the ocean and was bitten by a jellyfish, she became mad at Atlantis accusing them of ruining her dream wedding.
On the hand, some Bahamians are still just nasty to the tourist. We need to continue with these training and feedbacks, give them what they want even if it's silly, all we want to know is that they enjoyed their stay, so The Bahamas can continue to be on top of the game.

we have some of the lousiest service Ive ever seen, and thats to each other, if the tourists experience the same then no doubt they will have issues.

Well Downtown at least, still needs to clean up.....esspecially the easter part past parliament. They need to rapidly start the relocation of the shippiong areas, and put in some green or something to get rid of all the flying dust.

According to a report produced by the Ministry of Tourism on the Visitor Experience on Nassau and Paradise Island, year-to-date figures show that 67 percent of the stopovers leaving Nassau – who filled out Immigration Departure cards – said they were likely to recommend the Bahamas as a result of their Nassau experience.

This figure is compared to 85 percent for the Abaco cays and Eleuthera, which got the best rating, and 51 percent for Freeport, which got the worst.

wonder what it was for exuma

It was hard to hear what the people were saying on the video clip the audio was very poor. Mr. Robinson who presented it was not putting us down but was saying there is always room for improvement. He pointed out the fact that some Bahamians want employment in the tourist industry but have a real problem with service.
He said many people that come here save their hard earned money for years to be able to come to the Bahamas and those in the service industry here need to remember that.
What the above article was not saying is there were a few people on the clip that said they had favorable trips and would return to the Bahamas.

I think Education is the key to uplifting our minds to help us to treat our visitors well. Nowadays I dont go out much socially anymore, but over the years I have come across some very coarse and uncouth Bahamians whose manners and bearing shocked me. I mean, I was like, How in the blue blazes could both I AND THEY be Bahamians!?

Puts me in mind of something Dr Ian Strachan said recently on a talk show which burned into my brain: "If the educational system here is not improved greatly within the next 30 years, no one will want to be living here!"

What a statement to make!? I dont think he went into any explanation as to why he felt that way -- but I believe it is because with a continued inefficient educational system many would turn to drug dealing, and a myriad of other corrupt ways of "making a living".

Maybe we have already started, what with those warehouses with all those knockoff products!

Our authorities had better stop merely talking about improving our educational system and DO something..we are tired of the lip service!!!

He pointed out the fact that some Bahamians want employment in the tourist industry but have a real problem with service.He said many people that come here save their hard earned money for years to be able to come to the Bahamas and those in the service industry here need to remember that.
What the above article was not saying is there were a few people on the clip that said they had favorable trips and would return to the Bahamas.

Is it that they want to be in the tourist industry or is that the tourist industry is the only industry open to them. All the anchor projects are tourism based.

I watched that video clip as well. It was hard to listen to as the audio was poor. I vaguely remember hearing one of the tourists complain about rampant poverty and how it was depressing to see on her trip. Rampant poverty where???? I mean poverty does exist in the Bahamas for sure, but I think it was unreasonable and inaccurate to label it as rampant. I wonder if she would go to places like Cuba and Jamaica.

Alot of people in this country has a certain stigma to tourism as much as most of us have a stigma to farming. The only difference is that tourism creates more money, more quickly than argriculture can ever do in ts present state of development here....unless food started to be valued as much as marijanna, then everyone will be grabbing bags of fertilizer.

People still have that midset about not wanting to be subservient to others, esspecially foreigners. The thing is if you feel that being in the tourism industry will be subservient then it is not for you. It is a tricky thing creating a successful country just on tourism given the past of our country, which really isnt as bad as say, Jamaica, or Haiti, or any other coutry with brutal slave treatment.

I think we are sending out the wrong message to the people. It is not about ringing out to people "provide good customer service", I think we have to try to get pride in the people about their country, something about being glad that people would want to see you country, and haveing the pleasure of "treating them" to your home, like how the People to People program is. The principle of that program has to be mass communicated, and when people get that, THEN you will get you top customer service, THEN people will have pride in how they present themselves THEN we will have return tourist, actuall returns and not just people who would recommend to someone else.

If we are going to weigh the entire fate of this country on tourism alone, lets do it perfectly. We are too close to the greatest recourse of customers to completely screw up the industry.

Alot of people in this country has a certain stigma to tourism as much as most of us have a stigma to farming. The only difference is that tourism creates more money, more quickly than argriculture can ever do in ts present state of development here....unless food started to be valued as much as marijanna, then everyone will be grabbing bags of fertilizer.

People still have that midset about not wanting to be subservient to others, esspecially foreigners. The thing is if you feel that being in the tourism industry will be subservient then it is not for you. It is a tricky thing creating a successful country just on tourism given the past of our country, which really isnt as bad as say, Jamaica, or Haiti, or any other coutry with brutal slave treatment.

I think we are sending out the wrong message to the people. It is not about ringing out to people "provide good customer service", I think we have to try to get pride in the people about their country, something about being glad that people would want to see you country, and haveing the pleasure of "treating them" to your home, like how the People to People program is. The principle of that program has to be mass communicated, and when people get that, THEN you will get you top customer service, THEN people will have pride in how they present themselves THEN we will have return tourist, actuall returns and not just people who would recommend to someone else.

If we are going to weigh the entire fate of this country on tourism alone, lets do it perfectly. We are too close to the greatest recourse of customers to completely screw up the industry.

I guess it is all how one looks at it. Everyone who has a job is in service to others. A lawyer is in service to his client, a Banker to his depositors, a Doctor to his patients. Do we think of them as being subservient? Usually not.

Maybe it is the skills the Doctors, Lawyers, Bankers, have that sets them apart in our minds. But great skills are needed in the tourist industry as well even in the more “humble” jobs. Imagine being a maid who cleans 30 or more, rooms in a day! How do they do it? I have enough trouble trying to keep my desk clean and in order! The maids, the cooks, the grounds crew - the whole hotel would fall into disorder without them.

I am in service to my students just as each one of us to someone else. I remember the saying “Serving and being served are the folds of the same garment.” We receive service, we give service. There is no shame in either.

Is it that they want to be in the tourist industry or is that the tourist industry is the only industry open to them. All the anchor projects are tourism based.



:shhh:

I visited Cuba, and feel that our service is in general at least as good as theirs. I found the hotel workers to be rude and condescending. The service was far better in the outdoor markets. In The Dominican Republic we have a formidable opponent. The service is excellent in the hotels, outdoor markets, shopping malls, everywhere.

It is interesting that the lowest ratings were in Nassau and Freeport, the largest most developed population centers. Perhaps the fact that Freeport has become so similar in appearance and approach to a US city has something to do with its lowest of all rating. Freeport currently offers nothing that cannot be experienced in South Florida, California or The US Gulf Coast. The only way that I can imagine visitors to Freeport enjoying anything close to an authentic Bahamian experience is by visiting West End or East End. Freeport is a disaster and the model is not working. Nassau has some vestiges of authenticity but I fear that we are heading down the same disastrous road as Freeport. We must learn from this. We must do better than this.

Nassau would be better if it simply cleans up the place and be more patient and less rude with tourists...hell be less rude to Bahamians!

Freeport is another story, a place which wasn't even supposed to be a tourists destination per se, only going into tourism because the success of Lucayan strip in the earlier days. Coupled with the general "tings' tough emotion" mode that i imagine has been hovering there for the past few years now, creates a place where no one can really have a good vacation.

The general problem is in both places, life is not comfortable for the citiezens, whether it is because of the surroundings, or the current events. You CANNOT expect to have tourists enjoy your home when you dont generally like it yourself. If I don't like my broke down house, and in my right mind even if I am content I know generally there are people who would shun a stay here, why would I still try to lure a freind/neighboor/family member in?

I am amazed and struck with laughter at the same time when people ask why don't tour companies bring tourists over-the-hill? Are you serious? You want to bring tourists into a place where people are literally dying to get out? You yourself do nothing with the place. You Yourself are sick of the area.....and yet you ask this question?

It's time we stop denying what's going on around here and get brutaly honest with ourselves for own good.