NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A senior tourism executive yesterday urged out-island resort operators to put some “skin in the game” and not rely solely on government’s intervention to boost airlift, noting that significant incentives are often used to attract major carriers to family islands destinations.
Kerry Fountain, The Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board’s (BOIPB) executive director while addressing the Eleuthera Business Outlook said: “Airlines are not flying into these airports because they love you all. This a cold business and comes with cash.”
Fountain explained that to get Delta to offer a service into North Eleuthera, the BOIPB assumed the minimum revenue guarantee for that flight.
“That means that Delta must make x, y, z amount to fly from Atlanta to Georgetown and back to Atlanta. That cost our board over the course of some eight years $6 million to $7 million. We were able to do it because we had hotel members paying a resort levy to pay or the flight.
This (Eleuthera) is one of the longest islands in the archipelago with a bunch of hotels. I have two members on Eleuthera and Harbour Island; Valentines and Cape Eleuthera,” said Fountain. He went on to state: “The point is, you cannot just rely on government. Everyone must have some skin in the game.”
Deputy Director General of The Ministry of Tourism & Aviation Kenneth Romer noted that the Ministry of Tourism pays Delta for the difference in fuel costs between Nassau and Eleuthera as an incentive for the airline to fly to the island.
“They say it is too expensive to come. Tourism gives them back a rebate every quarter just to continue bringing passengers to Eleuthera,” said Romer, who revealed that the Ministry has continued to advocate for airlines to reduce their costs.
During his presentation at the business outlook, Romer noted that this nation must strike a balance between value and volume on visitor arrivals.
At the end of 2022, Eleuthera received 81,000 stopover arrivals—a 21 percent increase of 2019 numbers. Eleuthera is reporetedly seeing a 38 percent increase in air arrivals, with almost 16,000 at the end of February.
“Airlines are asking about available inventory. They are asking what beds the heads are going to go in,” said Romer.
“Eleuthera is going to be the market leader outside of Nassau when it comes to overall air arrivals.”
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