Ensuring that adequate infrastructure exists to support future tourism growth is vital, Bahamian Minister of Public Works Neko Grant said yesterday in a budget debate in Parliament. Grant said several countries have made this kind of infrastructure a priority, specifically Jamaica, which has pursued several large-scale infrastructure projects aimed at improving its tourism sector. “Like the Bahamas, they have launched an airport gateway project, a road improvement project and a harbour dredging project,” he said. Grant pointed to the harbour dredging in particular, which has helped improve access for the new wave of large cruise ships. According to Grant, from December 2009 to February 2011, a total of 407,034 passengers have arrived in the Bahamas on either Royal Caribbean, Disney or Norwegian Cruise Line ships like the Epic.

–Bahamas Information Service