Tourism officials hope to give visitors a real taste of island life with the official launch of The Grand Bahama Heritage Tour on Monday, February 1.
Gathered in a G.B. Taxi Union bus, tourism representatives, taxicab drivers and tour operators participated in a "dry-run" of the Heritage Tour, which focuses on the south western district of Grand Bahama.
The tour includes Hunters, Lewis Yard, Pinder's Point, William's Town, and Russell Town and holds Pinder's Point's Lighthouse and Lewis Yard's Mermaid Pond as its focal points.
Renamae Symonette, manager of Product Development for the Ministry of Tourism in Grand Bahama, said the tour is a great new attraction as it will allow tourists to "feel at home" on the island.
She noted that some taxicab drivers are already conducting the tour and hopes that even more will do so once it is officially introduced in February.
"We (Ministry of Tourism) wanted to promote the areas outside of Freeport Lucaya and we have some interesting sites that I'm sure the visitors would like to see while they're here and sample some of the native foods that they prepare here in south Grand Bahama," Symonette said. "Also, we wanted to create other attractions for the visitors and we want to create some type of employment for the residents of south Grand Bahama. (Those) are some of the reasons why we are doing this dry-run today so that we can have the taxi drivers and the transportation professionals, some of them are already taking this tour ... to continue and we want more to do this tour. We want to enhance what we have here already."
She added that guides will be stationed at the various heritage sites to sell souvenirs, provide visitors with information and make the tour experience even more exciting.
"We want the visitors to enjoy what the Bahamians enjoy," she said. "We want tourists to be at home. They want to visit what we have here so they can better explain and better appreciate what we have here on the island."
President of the Grand Bahama Taxi Union Kenneth Woodside, who was also in attendance, told The Freeport News that he expects the tour to have mutual benefits for tourists and taxicab drivers.
"I feel extremely good because it will benefit the tourists and it's more things for the tourists to do," he said. "This is the southwest tour and it comprises of the Mermaid Pond, the Light-house and other activities. These activities will create more tours ... so we need to do more of this so that we can get more money from the tourists."
Woodside said they "expect to receive or obtain more business because this new tour will be added to the other tours ... so it should be extremely good."
Equally excited about the tour, Geraldine Dean, a taxicab driver, said, "I think it's something different and I think it is a nice tour. The guests will get to see a part of the island that they (wouldn't) normally see and they'll get to experience the real Bahamian life. A lot of tourists, they come and they want to experience the native life so I think it's an excellent idea."
According to Symonette, the Ministry of Tourism is expecting to establish even more tours in the western district as early as March.
The Grand Bahama Heritage Tour is open to tourists as well as local residents.
