Takeaways from The Bahamas

Preparing to go on this trip, I wasn't really sure what I would be doing as my focus of study is not necessarily related to the tourism or hospitality industries. Though with this interest and different perspective, I had a very good experience overall coming in to this course with such an open-mind and a bit of prior knowledge in tourism. These are a few of the things I found most interesting from my time in the Bahamas this past week or so.

I think it is most interesting how I've learned a new way to think about my experiences as a consumer with either a restaurant or company. Through participant observation, we were able to turn our experiences in to manageable data that can be used and applied by these establishments we are reviewing. With analyzing these restaurants and attractions under the guise of any other consumer, we were able to get a raw experience to work with and consider. By observing our surroundings and taking in our own perceptions, it's fascinating to see the systems and training in motion and use those observations to ground our conclusions.

I also found it strange but not shocking how much of the destination was controlled by the amount of tourism coming in to the area. Naturally, 74% of visitors to Nassau arrive by cruise making downtown a place catered to the 10 hour visitor who is more than likely from North America. While the Bahamas is technically international, it feels as if it's almost an extension of the United States with no separate culture of distinguishing features, other than its pristine beaches. This is interesting in and of itself to think about when considering the tourism aspects of the destination and how its culture is affected by its economy.

Finally, probably my favorite part of the trip, was interacting with the people from the Ministry of Tourism. They were very open to hearing our feedback and constructive recommendations from our experience. Something I personally like to live by, is that the only way you can improve is to know what you're doing wrong. Both in large group discussion and in small breakout groups during lunch, each of them were very open to talking through our individual experiences and hearing what we would recommend as consumers and general travelers on vacation with the knowledge of the tourism industry. These were definitely productive conversations that will help guide us in the information we are able to provide them in our group papers summarizing our experiences and recommendations.