The Royal Bahamas Police Force Band brings its own showtime to the court for Bahamas Night at American Airlines Arena. (BIS Photo/Derek Smith)
Minister of Sports Dr. Daniel Johnson, while at Bahamas Night at American Airlines Arena, predicted a “breakout year” in sports tourism for The Bahamas. As the Miami Heat wound down its 109-102 victory in the latest meeting with the Lakers, Dr. Johnson pointed out that several large-scale sporting events will be held in The Bahamas in 2014.
The year began with the start of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour at Paradise Island, when Jessica Korda won the second annual Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. “We have the World Relays coming to The Bahamas,” he said. “That’s the entire world, all the greatest athletes in The Bahamas. Usain Bolt was in The Bahamas a couple weeks ago. He went down to the stadium, checked it out, got a feel (for it).
We have Tiger Woods bringing a very special event. We are going to have professional baseball, professional basketball, professional soccer. We are going to cap off the year with the first ever Bahama Bowl, NCAA football game – American football game – in the National Stadium. It is going to be fantastic.”
Dr. Johnson said The Bahamas’ goal is to become the number one sports destination in the region. He believed that working with the top teams in the region would accomplish the goal. Long-term initiatives with the Miami Heat are part of the strategy, Dr. Johnson said.
Tourism Permanent Secretary Harrison Thompson (left) and Minister Daniel Johnson with the Miami Heat’s Alonzo Mourning at Bahamas Night at American Airlines Arena. (BIS Photo/Derek Smith)
He revealed that after the Miami Heat held part of its training camp in The Bahamas last year, many professional teams started inquiring about how they could hold training camps in the country.
“If you put about 10,000 people in The Bahamas, we can generate an impact of about $25 million,” he said. “We, as a government, intend to seed that. You put in $1 or $2 million and that is the return we can get on our investment. But there is a bigger return. There are careers in the business of sports. So when I talk to people about sports, I am not talking about who is going to win a race or win a game. I want to know who is doing the broadcasting, who is doing production, who is doing the set up, logistics, coaching, transportation, etcetera.”
Alonzo Mourning, the Miami Heat’s vice president of Player Programmes, said spending time training in The Bahamas was good for the team. “I know I speak for everybody in the Heat organisation when I say that we couldn’t think of a better place to have training camp than right in the Caribbean’s back yard,” he said. Mr. Mourning said the Heat’s aim is to win another championship, and the training camp atmosphere in The Bahamas was a good start to that mission.