By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Writer

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper yesterday said tourist arrivals are up 66 percent over last year’s numbers.

Mr Cooper was a guest on Guardian Radio’s Morning Blend with Dwight Strachan yesterday and said that tourism numbers for July are “roaring” with daily rates up 60 percent, room revenue up 42 percent and arrivals up by 66 percent when compared to last year’s figures. He added that occupancy levels and tourist spending are also up and predicted over eight million arrivals this year, making it the “best year ever for tourism”.

He said: “Average daily rates are up by about 60 percent. Room revenue is up more than 42 percent… occupancy is up and at the end of July, I can report that our numbers are up in terms of arrivals, 66 percent over last year

“No matter how you measure it, we were roaring back to the best of the best. This is going to be, I predict the best year ever for tourism, we’re going to clock more than 8 million arrivals this year.”

Mr Cooper explained that the Downtown Revitalisation Project is a necessary part of improving the tourism product and encouraging repeat visitors. He noted that the although the Ministry of Tourism is spearheading the initiative stakeholders such as the Ministry of Works, Ministry of Health, Attorney General’s Office, Ministry of Environment and business owners are working together to ensure that the project takes a ‘collective approach’

He said: “We want our tourists to spend more we want them to keep coming. We want them to be repeat visitors and therefore what we’re doing is also improving the product. What you see in downtown Nassau is a part of a consolidated approach to improve the product, more experiences for our guests, we’re working with the stakeholders downtown.

“We have a vagrancy issue, we’re also working with the Ministry of Environment, we have a rodent issue. We’re working along with the stakeholders to improve their buildings; we have an issue where some of the buildings look tired.

“The owners of the derelict properties have been extremely cooperative and we have demolished more than six of them at this point. We’re continuing this effort.

“We’re working along with entrepreneurs to get involved because we want more activity downtown restaurants, bars, authentic experiences, shops, authentic Bahamian products and services.”

The Minister of Tourism and Aviation said Downtown Nassau has been “decaying” for 30 years and that the first phase in the project is to give Bay Street a “facelift” to deal with issues such as vagrants, derelict buildings, rodents and crime.

He said: “There’s been decay, downtown Nassau for the last 30 years, we’re trying to stop the decay. Everything we’re doing at the moment is really trying to give the place a facelift, making sure it looks better, making sure it smells better, making sure to rodents are gone, making sure we are compassionately assisting the vagrants, making sure that the police is also engaged… to ensure an even more safe environment.”

Mr Cooper noted that additional phases will include an incubation centre for entrepreneurs, murals from local artists and a possible art district, a food market and “high-end” booths for vendors of authentic products. He added that the project is focused on creating Bahamian businesses and providing opportunities for authentically Bahamian goods and services.

He said: “We are focused on really creating entrepreneurs, making small entrepreneurs, medium-sized entrepreneurs and large entrepreneurs. So, we are also closing off market slope that’s the street right on the side of the straw market and we are creating more high end, creatively designed booths, right there with a very native Bahamian theme, and hopefully creating more vendor opportunities for entrepreneurs of authentically Bahamian goods and services.

“We are also looking to see how we can advance an incubation centre that’s focused on the creatives. So, we are looking to see how we can do murals working along with the creative arts community. We are talking with some entrepreneurs about creating a new vibrant food market on the east side off East Street and we are talking like about a potential art district.”

He added that long-term goals of the project include an overhaul of the drainage systems and infrastructure to prevent excessive flooding Downtown and that the project is collaborating with the Downtown Partnership and ‘building’ on what they have done over the past 30 years.

He said: “We’ve started some preliminary works in terms of ensuring that the drainage systems there are cleared, so that we don’t see the kind of flooding that we’ve seen before. We are reviewing the entire infrastructure in the area.

“We also building on the work done by the Downtown Partnership over the last 30 years. They had some great plans and were not discarding them. We’re looking and we are engaging with them, but we are implementing the best of them.”

Mr Cooper said that the $300m transformation of the Nassau Cruise Port was a “catalyst” to get “Bay Street back to its glory days”. He invited investors to build residences Downtown and business owners to have their storefronts “redone and maintained”.

He said: “I think the Nassau Cruise Port is a good catalyst to really help us to aspire to get the main Bay Street, our Bay Street back to its glory days.

“We are inviting investors to participate in terms of building residences downtown for long term, the storefronts, we’re asking that they be redone and maintained.”