ABACO TOURIST OFFICE NOTES
by Kendy Anderson & Wynsome Ferguson
Hope Town Association held its first Annual Biathlon in Hope Town on 28th
June. This event consisted of walk/run/bike and attracted many of our visitors
as well as locals. There were a number of native food stalls along with
local Bahamian crafts. This was an excellent opportunity for the visitors
to interact with the local Abaconians.
Regatta Time in Abaco took place 4th-12th July. About forty boats participated
in the year's event and attracted some 300 people to our island. The race
began in Green Turtle Cay and ended in Marsh Harbour, which allowed participants
to see most of what Abaco has to offer. The awards banquet and dinner was
held at the Jib Room, Marsh Harbour, on Saturday 12th July.
Mr & Mrs Paul Owens of Star FM of London visited Abaco on 7th July.
They visited Man O' War Cay and interviewed Mr Joe Albury of Joe's Studio
and Emporium on boat building. Mr & Mrs Owens had a tour of Marsh Harbour
and visited our local radio station, Radio Abaco.
Pat Taylor, a conference organiser from Europe, visited Abaco from 27th-30th
July. Ms Taylor was here to familiarise herself with properties on Abaco
that can host conferences. During her visit here she had a opportunity
to visit Marsh Harbour, Hope Town and Treasure Cay.
Five film commissioners, along with their spouses, visited Abaco 8th-10th
August. The purpose of their trip was to identify locations and scout areas
in Abaco for production shoots for fashion magazines, movies, catalogues,
etc. This was a joint promotion between Florida and The Bahamas. The group
was accompanied by Grace Hart-Caron of BTO Miami and Maria Johnson of BTO
Nassau. During their stay on Abaco the group visited Marsh Harbour and
neighbouring settlements, Hope Town, Man O' War, Treasure Cay and Green
Turtle Cay.
The Abaco Tourist Office, in conjunction with Burns House Limited, hosted
the first ever Abaco Goombay Fever on 8th August at the Crossing Beach,
Marsh Harbour. This event will take place every Friday until 26th September.
The event was a great success as several hundred visitors and local people
attended and were able to interact with each other. There were native food
concession stalls, games, Bahamian music and Junkanoo. We anticipate this
event will grow as we plan to add local band performances, the Boys Brigade
Band, fashion shows displaying Bahamian prints, and local crafts and straw
work.