Sustainable Tourism Impacting GBI

As environmental sustainability is one of the most important factors relating to the preservation and conservation of Grand Bahama Island, the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation's (MOTA) Sustainable Tourism Department began, during the month of April, to spread the message about the five main threats to our environment.

With imminent threats of climate change, invasive species, habitat destruction, overfishing and pollution of the oceans, reefs, and mangrove ecosystems, the message of conservation and coastal awareness continued to be publicized throughout several schools and communities until the end of May.

In an effort to strengthen environmental interests on Grand Bahama Island, numerous primary schools and the community at large were targeted by the Sustainable Tourism Department along with the Keep Grand Bahama Clean Committee, and other social organizations.

Jeffrey Pinder, Sr. Executive, Sustainable Tourism, said, "This latest exercise is in keeping with our overall objective, which is to drive traffic to areas on Grand Bahama that currently get very little tourist activity, hereby increasing stopover visitor spending throughout the economy. Our sustainable tourism efforts begin with a clean environment."

One community directly affected by the message of sustainability chose to take action and organized a community clean-up on William' s Town Beach. This exercise enlisted the support of the Administrator for West Grand Bahama, Mr. Don Cornish, and that of three local businesses: Toads on Da Bay, Island Seas Resort and Gone Legit AKA the $2 Bar, and the District Councilor Ms. Jackie Russell and Township Chairperson Ms. Lenise Williams.

“As the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation is currently assisting the communities of Grand Bahama to develop their unique features into viable sustainable business models referred to as "Micro Economies," Pinder said, "We believe [this] is one of the long-term solutions to our current economic climate in Grand Bahama from a sustainable development point of view".

Meryl Williamson, a resident of William's Town, said, "We just decided to come out because we have a lot of people that come into the community and instead of them throwing stuff in the garbage, they throw it on the road. People don't look at it and say that persons from out of town throw trash on the road; they say that persons in William's Town are responsible for this. So, we decided to come out and clean up!"

In taking responsibility for the trash, Lenise Williams, Local Government Representative, Willam's/Russell's Town, said, "The clean-up was very successful. We just want to keep our beaches and coastal areas clean for our upcoming visitors."

The residents and descendants of the William' s Town community are currently working to revamp their product offerings to include a Saturday night Fish Fry beginning in June and Lobster Fest in October.

Local residents and visitors can expect to see more activities and events within the coming months as the campaign for sustainable development in the area continues.