NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper said yesterday that getting this nation’s stopover visitor arrivals back to pre-COVID numbers is “priority number one”.
Deputy prime Minister Cooper, addressing reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting yesterday, noted that bookings over the next few months are looking “very positive”.
“We are looking to get back to our pre-COVID numbers,” said Cooper.
“Our main priority will be to restore our tourism numbers from those centers in the northwestern American states to ensure that our stopover visitors, that those numbers get back to pre-tourism levels.
“That is priority number one. Rest assured that we are focused on the spend of tourists in our economy. We are going to be working on that diligently. Priority number one is increasing stopover visitors.”
Cooper added: “We are looking pretty good so far compared to last year, which was a horrid year. We are well in advance of that. When we look at the bookings over the next few months, we’re looking very positive.”
Cooper also noted that the Davis administration will have a detailed brief this week on all investments in the pipeline.
“I indicated before that we are investment-friendly. Our focus is to get more investments faster,” said Cooper.
“We are going to be streamlining that process and our objective really is to get shovels in the ground on as many of the projects as possible.
“If it makes sense, if it is in our government’s policies and first our priorities, we are going to proceed with them.”
