By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Tourism must focus on "getting the biggest bang for our buck" with post-COVID-19 marketing strategies given that it will not escape government-wide budget cuts, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.

Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that his ministry would likely have to "defer" targeting new markets to concentrate on building confidence among American and Canadian travellers that The Bahamas is a "safe" and healthy destination.

"I think tourism is going to have to live, as most ministries are, with a reduced budget. We're no different from anyone else," he said. "We obviously have to market the country when the time comes, but there's a certain amount of headwind.

"Our key market is the US, and it's in a tailspin. There are 25m unemployed, and a 25 percent reduction in GDP. Their economy is being devastated by this virus, and that's our core market. You add on top of that the complete evaporation of the cruise market. We have to get over those hurdles. The cruise companies have to work through how they reassure customers that when they get on the ship they won't get sick or trapped on the ship."

Mr D'Aguilar added that 'the two pressing concerns that have to be addressed" from The Bahamas' perspective, once its borders and tourism re-open, was to reassure potential travellers this is a COVID-19 free destination while also convincing tourism industry workers that their guests are also virus free.

"A lot of thought has to go into how we reassure the public the destination they're coming to is not only going to be idyllic, peaceful and relaxing, but it's also going to be safe," he said. "I think a marketing campaign promoting The Bahamas as a safe destination to visit is going to be critical.

"I think most people in their minds have this view of The Bahamas as a beautiful Caribbean country, with white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters, but is it safe? We're going to create and advocate to the travelling public that it is safe."

The minister said The Bahamas would have to concentrate on rebuilding its core US north-east, Florida and Canadian markets first once global economies start to re-open. "We're going to have to work with a reduced budget, so we're going to have to be employing strategies where we get the most bank for our buck in directing marketing dollars," he told Tribune Business.

"We're going to have to focus on our core markets of the US, Canada and probably the UK. Other far-flung areas where we think there's potential we will have to defer until we get the core markets back up and running."

Mr D'Aguilar continued: "My team at the Ministry of Tourism is working feverishly to develop strategies and is maintaining relationships with partners such as the airlines. It's very much a work in progress.

"Even though there are no tourists here, all members of the Ministry of Tourism are focused on how we position ourselves for when the time comes, flights resume and people think about vacations, and we get the reassurance out there that we're one of the safest places to come."