Above: the opening ceremony last week

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Bahamas has relocated its tourism call up centre from Florida to Freeport, Grand Bahama.

The call centre’s move is part of what Prime Minister Perry Christie called part of the “greater economic expansion now underway in Grand Bahama.”

“The Bahamas Telemarketing Centre is envisioned to grow into a ‘supermarket’ for Bahamas Tourism products, not limited just to the BMOT with the ability to not only give information, but growing into a full scale fulfillment centre for all Bahamas products, including the engagement of the centre as an extension of tour operator services,” Christie said.

Christie pointed to other projects underway on the island, including the planned opening of the Blue Diamond Memories resort and the renovations being completed on the Reef Village at Lucaya.

Bahamas Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, whose constituency includes part of Grand Bahama, said the Call Centre could become “an entrance to The Bahamas and change the entire complexion of this island of Grand Bahama and certainly of our Commonwealth.”

He said he believed that Freeport could “finally achieve the objectives that were set out many, many years ago to become a centre for business, particularly offshore business, and certainly for tourism.”

The call centre is being operated by Island Outsources and Itel-BPO Solutions. CEO Yoni Epstein said the company began its operations last month with 65 people and could increase the size of its staff to 200 by the end of 2014.