RBC Royal Bank welcomed more than 1,800 outstanding RBC employees and their guests to The Bahamas on Friday, providing a welcome boost to the local economy. The RBC group travelled to Nassau aboard the Celebrity Millennium cruise ship as part of an RBC performance convention. The Millennium was chartered by RBC to host its top performing employees from around the world to a convention and Caribbean cruise. "RBC is already widely admired as a leader in our business community," said Mr Tommy Thompson, Deputy Director General, from The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. "By bringing this convention to Nassau, RBC is directly helping to fuel our tourism industry. Not only did the participants get to experience our local culture, but we gained worldwide exposure to a new group of travellers, many of whom we hope will return with their families for future visits." To give the cruise-goers the full Bahamian experience, RBC arranged to have the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Band greet the visitors at the Prince George Dock. This performance was followed by a "Bahamian Welcome" party in the parking lot of RBC's Main Branch, near Prince George Wharf. At the party, the group then experienced Bahamian food, drinks and the best of our local Bahamian performers. "Recognition is a very important part of RBC's culture," said Mr Nathaniel Beneby, Jr, Market Head of Retail Banking for RBC in The Bahamas, Cayman and Turks & Caicos. "We reward our employees for outstanding job performance on a consistent basis and are pleased that we can participate in the recognition of employees from around the world with this celebratory event." "We are delighted that RBC has again chosen Nassau as a stop on its annual convention cruise," said Mr Gevon Moss, project manager of the Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP). "RBC Royal Bank's Main Branch is one of the oldest buildings on Bay Street and is an integral part of our downtown landscape. As we seek to revitalise the city of Nassau and enhance the appeal of Bay Street, events like this help to showcase all that downtown has to offer and bolster the success of area businesses." More than 70,000 RBC employees from around the world participate in RBC's Reward and Recognition programme. The all-expenses paid convention cruise is the top award in the programme. Eight employees from The Bahamas were recognised as top winners and are travelling with their guests on the cruise that left Miami on January 8. Congratulations to the following RBC employees from The Bahamas, who were recognised as RBC Top Performers in 2011: * Dorothy Albury, Commercial Financial Services; * Opichi Mackey, RBC Abaco; * Marcus Moxey, RBC Main Branch; * Kirkwood Pinder, Bahamas Service Centre; * Joyce Riviere, Bahamas Regional Office; * Patrice Saunders, Human Resources; * Edward Strachan, Mortgage Centre, RBC FINCO; * Teresita Stuart, Bahamas Service Centre.