Source: Date: Updated: |
TheBahamasInvestor.com
Friday, September 16, 2011 Friday, September 16, 2011 |
Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are at the forefront of the tourism sector in The Bahamas, but face certain systemic problems, according to sustainable tourism specialist Dr T Jennifer Edwards.
Edwards is project manager for the Sustainable Tourism Entrepreneurial Management and Marketing (STEMM) Project, which launched in The Bahamas in 2006 with the aim of providing support for small and SMEs in the tourism sector. The initiative is being partly funded by the Inter-American Development Bank.
The sustainable tourism consultant, who has worked with both the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and the Bahamas Hotel Association, said SMEs contribute over 20 per cent to the country’s economic activity, with small hotels–those with four to 75 rooms–comprising 90 per cent of the entire hotel sector.