NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of Tourism, Investments, and Aviation Chester Cooper yesterday further outlined the series of global sales missions that will see teams travel to cities across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.
Titled, “Bringing The Bahamas to You”, Cooper said the missions were driven by an understanding of the “natural desire for the human element” in a field dominated by technology.
“We will be meeting face-to-face with travel advisors and travel media who will get the opportunity to experience a Grand Showcase: product updates, panel discussions, interviews, tourism forecasts, a trade show, and an immersion in Bahamian culture and entertainment,” he said.
Cities include Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh, Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
In Canada, missions will travel to Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary.
“Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East are also on our radar,” Cooper said.
“We are looking at all of our emerging markets and seeing how we can shape two-destination or multi-destination vacations. Whether it’s Orlando-Bahamas or Bahamas-Jamaica.”
Cooper said the country’s tourism product was experiencing a “real renaissance” during remarks at the ASTA Caribbean Showcase 2022 at the Sandals Royal Bahamian resort.
Cooper said: “Our tourism numbers are strong. Our tourism offerings are strong. And The Bahamas is making waves in incredible ways.
“We are this year rivaling the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019 with our destination welcoming 3,676,692 visitors from January through July in 2022. That number represents a 515 percent increase over the same period a year before.”
“If we look at stopover visitors, specifically, those numbers totaled 866,036 by July 2022 compared to 525,234 in 2021. And this summer, the major resorts of Nassau and Paradise Island are reporting 80 percent occupancy, with a positive forecast going into the winter of 2023.”
“And we’re not slowing down,” he said.
Cooper pointed to nearly $3 billion in new investments, including significant projects in Abaco, Exuma, and Eleuthera.
He noted more hotels shuttered during the pandemic are being brought back on stream, like the Hilton and the Melia in Nassau and Club Med in San Salvador returning to service this fall.
As for airlift, Cooper said Lynden Pindling International Airport has more than 11,000 passengers transiting per day on the weekends.
He said there are 12 direct flights per week coming out of Europe.
“Bahamasair is flying directly from Raleigh Durham. Sunwing is returning from Canada to Grand Bahama. America Airlines is coming directly out of Charlotte. And we are in talks with Frontier about even more airlift,” he said.
Cooper said The Bahamas is “laser-focused” in its determination to grow and expand its tourism business, which he attributed to the impact of an unprecedented hurricane and global pandemic.
“We are leveraging the huge global demand for travel that has emerged with the lifting of travel restrictions,” he said.
“I want to note that even though the world has become more tech-oriented, travel consumers have never lost their natural desire for the human element, and travel advisors are the ones who deliver the human touch in a field dominated by technology.”
“And we understand that human touch,” Cooper said.
