Tourism leaders in the Bahamas are to showcase the islands’ religious tourism offerings during a major gospel festival taking place this Easter.
Gospel Fest, featuring Grammy award winning gospel artist Hezekiah Walker, is being hosted by the Ministry of Tourism on Good Friday.
The event is part of a year-long celebration of 50 years of tourism in the Bahamas and April has been recognized as Religious Tourism Month.
"Every month, we are going to be doing something that heralds what we have been doing for the past 50 years and April is a significant month where we take time out to give God thanks and praise," said director of religious tourism Dwight Armbrister.
He said other faith-based activities will be planned throughout the year.
Earlier this year, when announcing plans for Gospel Fest to US media, deputy director of religious tourism Linville Johnson targeted 160,000 faith-based travelers to the Bahamas in 2014 – an annual increase of 135%.
Johnson said religious tourism has been previously viewed as a secondary filler market, but this mindset is changing as more prominence is placed on faith-based group travel, particularly within the African American community.
