Executives of the Straw Business Persons Society including Reverend Esther Thompson, B.Th., JP, President (second from right); Mrs. Laverne Crawley, JP, Vice President (far left); and Ms. Rebecca Small, VP of Communication (far right), announce their support for Nassau Cruise Port Ltd. while meeting with Colin Murphy, Head of Business Development, The Americas, at Global Ports Holding.
“We are not seeing as many tourists in the Straw Market as we used to,” explained Reverend Esther Thompson, President of the Straw Business Persons Society.
“We need foot traffic. We have 500 stalls in our Bay Street Market right now that have the potential to provide for 500 families.
A mega-project like this one can do miracles for all 500 business owners and for our entire economy, considering that new money is injected into our economy daily through sales from these businesses.
Additionally, this is an avenue that will contribute to the stability of our Foreign Reserves once it’s done the right way. That’s why the Government needs to choose the best partner for the project.”
Reverend Thompson continued, “We believe that the Global Ports Holding plan will help address many of the challenges that our members and other downtown merchants are facing. We’re very impressed by their background and the amount of success that they have achieved worldwide.
Simply making the port more efficient will not be enough. We want real change and we believe they can deliver. Our livelihoods depend on this.”
Colin Murphy, Head of Business Development at Global Ports Holding, shared the company’s appreciation of their approval.
“We’re very pleased that the Straw Business Persons Society has seen fit to support us. If we are selected as the preferred bidder, it will be in everyone’s best interest for us to collaborate with stakeholders like the Society to make this project a success.
We want to understand their issues and be helpful. It’s the only way that this venture can make the kind of impact that will truly benefit Bahamians.”
About Global Ports Holding
Global Ports Holding (LSE: GPH), is the world’s largest cruise port operator with an established presence in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Asia-Pacific regions, including 15 cruise ports and 2 commercial ports in 9 countries. GPH serves over 8 million passengers at its cruise ports and handles over 300,000 TEUs and about 5 million tons of total cargo at its commercial ports.