By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Chuck Weech, operations manager at MSC’s Ocean Cay said he believes the island has played a “huge role” in accelerating the sea arrivals to Bimini.

Speaking to Tribune Business, Mr Weech said the private island’s over 1m annual visitors “complements” overall Bimini arrivals, without overburdening the island or its natural resources.

“Ocean Cay is complementing Bimini arrivals, without overburdening Bimini. A lot of people don’t realise that we are a part of the Bimini chain, but we are and we are averaging about 1m guests a year, so that is really contributing to and driving those numbers,” said Mr Weech.

During his budget contribution last week, Minister of Tourism Investments and Aviation, Chester Cooper revealed Bimini saw a 29.7 percent increase in air and sea arrivals over the first four month of the year, but saw an 11.5 percent reduction in air arrivals, which Mr Cooper contributed to the ongoing airport renovation.

“Bimini, which began accelerating cruise visitors only recently in 2022, saw a massive 29.7 percent increase in total arrivals this year. That’s an extraordinary 152.1 percent increase from 2019. While air arrivals to Bimini declined by 11.5 percent this year, this is largely a reflection of construction during the survey period for the new airport and the temporary cruise berth adjustments,” said Mr Cooper.

Mr Weech, who is also a Bimini native, said the island currently hosts up to seven MSC cruise ships per week carrying about 5,600 passengers and that number can expand with the introduction of the cruise line’s newest ship that can hold up to 6,700 passengers.

He said although the island hosts a large number of guests there is a huge focus on sustainable tourism and conservation.

“We are very sustainable when it comes to the island here, we have a whole process with a technical team. They recycle the all of the glass, aluminum cans, we use solar energy and the papers and plastic items broken down here before they are shipped to the States or Canada,” said Mr Weech

He also revealed MSC plans to expand their offerings of authentic Bahamian products on the island to allow guests to experience the culture and help fuel local businesses.

“The opportunities for local businesses, especially in the future, is going to be very vast. We now going to be tapping more to the Bahamian culture and also fisheries. There are going to be a lot of options for Bahamian businesses. We really want to get into the culture and showcase more Junkanoo, more of our food, the conch salad, the conch fritters, as well as authentic products. We are really going to push those cultural things you can only get in the Bahamas and excited for that,” said Mr Weech.

Gem Storr, team leader at the retail store that exclusively sells local goods,said guests are very interested in locally made products. She noted that allowing Bahamian artisans to sell their goods on Ocean Cay not only provides an economic benefit, but gives local entrepreneurs worldwide exposure.

“Everything in the store is handmade in the Bahamas. A lot of guests are excited and in awe when they see these products and they want to take things home to show off what they found while in The Bahamas,” said Ms Storr.

“Carrying these products can open a lot of doors for Bahamian entrepreneurs, we have a lot of international entrepreneurs that actually travel on the cruise and they will come and ask who they can speak with to get a hold of these goods.”