Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe delivers the keynote address during a meeting held by the Bahamas Out Islands Promotion Board at the British Colonial Hilton June 13. (BIS Photo/Derek Smith)

The islands of The Bahamas need more “visibility” in the tourism arena, according to Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe. The change he says will come via social media.

Wilchcombe made the statements during the keynote address at a meeting held by the Bahamas Out Islands Promotion Board at the British Colonial Hilton June 13.

“Over the course of the year, there will be many changes made in the promotion of our tourism product. One of the main vehicles we will use is technology–social media–to promote The Bahamas.”

“Using social media, each island will be featured in the language of the target country,” he said.

“There will be many changes in the Ministry of Tourism in order to respond to the changing needs of our tourism industry. So, there will be more focus on technology and we will start to recruit personnel to meet those needs. Each island must have an opportunity to showcase itself, so there will be greater demands placed on the staff of the Ministry in order to properly achieve our goals,”

Wilchcombe noted he is expecting to increase the previous budget allocation for the promotion of the Family Islands, which was $750,000.

Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe speaks to members of the press after delivering a keynote address to the board directors of the Bahamas Out Islands Promotion Board June 13. (BIS Photo/Derek Smith).