PERMANENT Secretary in the Ministry for Grand Bahama Melvin Seymour officially welcomed 57 people from the City of Riviera Beach, Florida to Grand Bahama on Wednesday.

Heading the delegation was Ms Billie Brooks, chairperson for the City of Riviera Beach Council.

They City of Freeport Local Government Council, headed by Chief Councillor, Kevin Ferguson, has established a strong working relationship with the Council for Riviera Beach and is acting as chaperone for the group.

They arrived on Grand Bahama early Wednesday morning and paid a courtesy call on the Ministry for Grand Bahama before taking a tour and shopping at Port Lucaya, Garden of the Groves and Taino Beach.

They travelled to Grand Bahama aboard the cruise-ship Celebration and were in town for the day.

Mr Ferguson said the relationship with Riviera Beach was established in February and the council is working diligently to make sure it is beneficial to both cities.

"Also, we were looking into ways in which we could do some student exchanges and Councilwoman Brooks has started this very quickly by bringing a contingent of Girl Scouts to Grand Bahama and the City of Freeport and we are pleased to have them here, and we are looking forward to our Girl Scouts and our Girl Scouts leaders to make a similar trip to Riviera Beach," he said.

Mr Seymour said Minister for Grand Bahama Michael Darville was aware of the group's visit and sent his best wishes, but could not be there to greet them as he was attending Parliament in New Providence.

He told the group that Grand Bahama is "the place to be and we certainly hope that you will be no stranger to us as your relationship with the City Council of Freeport cements, and we will see you here often."

Councilwoman Brooks responded and brought greetings from the Mayor and City Council of Riviera Beach.

"It is just so wonderful after establishing this relationship that I am able to bring over this wonderful group of Girl Scouts. The Scout master and I had a relationship from years ago and I thought, well when they want to do a tour of Florida that certainly I would like for them to come over and meet everyone here in Freeport, especially the young ladies.

"So greetings everyone and this will not be my last trip. We said that we were going to try to establish a relationship where we would bring tourism here to promote your economy and to introduce people to the culture of the Bahamas, the wonderful hospitality we have always enjoyed," she said.

Also assisting the City of Freeport Council in hosting the group were members of the Grand Bahama Girl's Brigade and the Rachel's Daughters organisation.