Sir Albert Receives Highest Tourism Honour

FREEPORT, Grand Bahama, July 28, 2005…Sir Albert Miller, winner of the coveted Cacique Clement T. Maynard Lifetime Achievement Award, was presented with the prized Cacique ring at a lavish luncheon reception at the Westin, Our Lucaya Resort on Grand Bahama last Monday.

Surrounded by his wife and children, the Grand Bahama resident received numerous accolades from his colleagues in the tourism industry. Sir Albert served as president of the Grand Bahama Island Promotion’s Board for 31 years.

The Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Cacique is the highest industry honour available in The Bahamas tourist industry. The 2004 lifetime honour was renamed the Clement T. Maynard Lifetime Achievement Award in honour of the longest serving minister of tourism in the history of The Islands Of The Bahamas.  With the receipt of his Cacique designation and ring, Sir Albert joins the short list of distinguish industry recipients to have received this honour since the inception of the Cacique Awards in 1995.

Presenting the tourism veteran his ring, nestled on a plump velvet gold trimmed ring cushion that came complete with a page boy who entered to the sound of a trumpet and drum roll, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Agatha Marcelle described Sir Albert as “a pillar of his community and a rudder of stability.

“During the 31 years that he served as chairman of the Grand Bahama Island Promotion Board, the island’s tourism industry grew from an ancillary venture to become the main lifeline,” Ms Marcelle said. “Sir Albert’s career has far outstripped the qualifying period for the Sir Clement T. Maynard Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Sir Albert received the Cacique Lifetime designation at the 9th annual Cacique Awards which was held at the Regency Theatre on Grand Bahama in January 2004.

The Cacique Awards is the tourism industry’s highest designation. Cacique (the name given to the Lucayan chieftain) originates from the first settlers on The Islands Of The Bahamas, the Lucayan Indians. The duho, adopted as the official symbol of the Cacique Awards is a replica of the seat used by the Lucayan Cacique during ceremonial rituals.

The honour of receiving a Cacique Lifetime Award is reserved for industry professionals who have demonstrated a sustained excellence in tourism for twenty years or more.