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 Under the theme
"My Bahamas To A
Common Loftier Goal",
National Tourism Week 2006
featured a week of events
from January 8 to 13, which
included the National Tourism
Conference and culminated in
the prestigious Cacique Awards
Presentation. Attracting an
enthusiastic attendance were the
N1 I t r Classes led by Ministry
of Tourism (MOT) officers
or top-rated tourism industry
professionals sharing their
expertise on such subjects as
product branding. The College
of The Bahamas partnered with
MOT to offer participants in the
seminars a unique opportunity.
 This year marked the launch
of a partnership between COB
and MOT, which afforded
delegates the unprecedented
opportunity to acquire a College
of The Bahamas certificate,
which records internationally
recognized Continuing Education
Units (CEUs) that lead to
the establishment of a CEU
record. This groundbreaking
collaboration between industry
and the College of The Bahamas
is expected to increase over time,
add greatly to skill development
in tourism and thereby enhance
the overall Bahamas tourism
thrust in the highly competitive
world travel market.
 Of particular interest to
 educators was the keynote address
 from one of the Caribbean's
 foremost scholars, Rex Nettleford,
 Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the


University of the West Indies,
at the opening ceremony. Using
the week's theme as his guiding
statement, Professor Nettleford
spoke engagingly and pertinently
about what he sees as the ways for
The Bahamas to reach a "common
loftier ..al" where tourism is
concerned.
 Central to his thesis was
the idea that the Bahamian
people must first and foremost
be conscious of their own place
within their own land as they
develop their tourism product.
The sun, sand and sea must
belong to Bahamians and the
Bahamian environment must
be safeguarded primarily for
Bahamians so that the visitors can
then enjoy it with them.
 He spoke of the importance
 of all the disparate contributors
 to the tourism package working
 more closely together and
 recognizing their own roles within
 it and how national policy must
 be informed by the multi-faceted
 complexities of the destination.
 These complexities must be
 appreciated by highlighting them
 in small scale community tourism
 projects and moving away from
 the "inflexible megalithic all-
 inclusives" that promote only the
 minimum of local culture.
 Nettleford also spoke of the
 need for The Bahamas to find
 ways of developing its agriculture,
 especially on the Family Islands.
 He believes that the benefits of
 agriculture will not only boost the
 economy but will also help more
 people to feel a closeness to the


land.
 Finally, he warned of the
dangers of cultural tourism
descending into touristic culture
with nothing of real value on
display. To avoid this he reminded
the listeners of the need for
products of a serious creative
nature that locals would want to
purchase and that the tourists
can come and share. He finished
with a plea to resist the all-
consuming march ofglobalization
by keeping a steady eye on the
true nature and potential of
tourism's possibilities in this
country. Professor Nettleford left
the podium to a rousing reception
from the delegates. U






















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