December 2002 Table of Contents

ABACO TOURIST OFFICE UPDATE

The Honourable Obie Wilchcombe, Minister of Tourism, was the guest speaker at the Abaco Chamber of Commerce meeting on 18th October at Below Decks, Abaco Beach Resort. The minister spoke on plans for the restructuring of the Abaco Tourist Office that will take place at the end of October. The plans include the appointment of a general manager for the Abaco Tourist Office who will be an expert on tourism in the Abacos; additional staff to be appointed to the Abaco Office; and a specialist on Abaco to be posted to various BTO offices overseas. Don Cornish, manager of the Abaco Tourist Office, met the minister upon his arrival and attended the Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Kendy Anderson represented the Abaco Tourist Office at the Key West Goombay Festival on 18th and 19th October in Key West, Florida. The Key West Goombay Festival is in its third year and the event drew thousands of people from the US and Europe. The Royal Bahamas Police Force band performed at the opening and closing ceremonies.

On 31st October five international press members attending the Caribbean Tourism Conference in Grand Bahama visited Abaco. The group arrived via Chalks Airline at Treasure Cay beach where they were met and welcomed by Don Cornish and Wynsome Ferguson of the Abaco Tourist Office; Everette Pinder and Avis Miller, manager and assistant manager of Treasure Cay Resort; along with local press Silbert Mills of Radio Abaco and Dave Ralph of the Abaconian. The Treasure Cay Beach Resort hosted the group to breakfast followed by a site inspection of that property. The group then had the opportunity to experience a snorkel trip and beach picnic with Brendal Stevens of Brendal’s Dive Shop, Green Turtle Cay. In the afternoon the group went to Abaco Beach Resort where they spent the evening and had dinner at Ray’s Place, Hope Town Harbour Lodge. The following morning they were hosted to breakfast at Different of Abaco followed by a tour of the grounds. The group was escorted by Valerie Gaitor, MOT Nassau, and assisted by Wynsome Ferguson.

Nine more travel agents who attended the Caribbean Tourism Conference visited Abaco for the day on 1st November. This group had the opportunity to visit hotels in Marsh Harbour and Hope Town. The group was escorted by Claudette Davis of the Fam Unit and assisted by Don Cornish.

Public Service Week was observed 27th October to 1st November. As a part of the calendar of events, public symposiums were held throughout Abaco. The whole idea of these symposiums was to give a basic overview of how each government department or corporation operates. Don Cornish made presentations at Grand Cay and Sandy Point, Kendy Anderson at Coopers Town and Wynsome Ferguson in Marsh Harbour. The week climaxed with a banquet honouring public officers who had recently retired, those who had 20 or more years of service, and outstanding employees of the respective government departments. Wynsome Ferguson was the recipient of the Outstanding Employee Award of the Abaco Tourist Office for the period June 2001 to June 2002.

The local executive committee of the Great Abaco Triathlon travelled to Freeport to observe the Conch Man Triathlon and to meet with the organisers. the delegation included Don Cornish, Kim Roberts, Dale Hill and Brenda Claridge-Mitchell. The goal of this trip was to exchange ideas on how to improve the Great Abaco Triathlon as it enters its tenth year. The Conch Man Triathlon is in its 16th year of existence.

Mega Yacht Charters, a programme of Sea Dreams Yacht Club, Coconut Grove, Miami, has arranged a Marina Day stop in Green Turtle Cay for a period of ten weeks commencing 10th November. The mini cruise ship will bring between 50 to 100 passengers to New Plymouth for six hours of snorkeling, water sports, leisure beaching and sightseeing between noon and 6 pm. Passengers will be from the Sea Dreams’ upscale clientele. the inaugural stop was postponed due to inclement weather near the No Name Cay passage where the boat was expected to anchor. The cruise is being coordinated by R H Curry Limited, Nassau.

The Great Abaco Triathlon Committee held a meeting with Rick Graef of Bluewater Marketing Services who is very interested in taking over the marketing of the event from Exclusive Sports Marketing. Mr Graef proposes a week of events leading up to the triathlon which would include a food fest, arts and crafts festival and beach volleyball tournament with each event having a different publicity medium. He also suggested implementing a points system with the three triathlons that are held in The Bahamas. Mr Graef feels that we would attract many more people to Abaco should we go this route. He said his firm could do the marketing for less than ESM. A concern was raised with reference to ESM putting on another triathlon for the date we presently have ours should the contract be taken from them. It was suggested we could move our triathlon to mid October. Mr Graef mentioned the possibility of the Abaco Property Association as a potential sponsor. Don Cornish informed those present that he had spoken to Steve Tebon of ESM who is sending him a power point presentation for the upcoming triathlon. The committee is leaning towards not renewing the contract with ESM; however, they would wait to see what is proposed and then make a decision.

Don Cornish, manager of the Abaco Tourist Office, was elected to serve as chairman of the Independence Committee for the seventh consecutive year during the Government Department Heads Meeting.

The All-Abaco Regatta Committee elected a new executive committee at a meeting held on 6th November in Marsh Harbour. The following persons were elected: Jackson McIntosh, chairman; Ishmael Morley, deputy chairman; Errol Ferguson, Treasurer; and Wynsome Ferguson as secretary. The three island administrators in Abaco will serve as advisors to the committee.

December 2002 Table of Contents