Lisgaris: Pandemic driving shorter booking windows
“People are really starting to get nervous over this surge and the restrictions”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Local water-based excursion operators say they have seen an uptick in business, although the pandemic appears to have caused customers to significantly shorten their booking windows.
Adoni Lisgaris, president of the Bahamas Excursion Operators Association (BEOA), told Eyewitness News: “I checked with a couple of our members and pretty much everyone said they are experiencing an uptick in business.
“It still seems to be more last-minute bookings. Visitors are not necessarily booking the day before but a few days out. Normally, they would book two months to the year out, so having a good number of people booking four days out is unusual.
“I believe that’s because people don’t want to test positive and not be able to come. They want to wait to get their test results and start booking excursions.
“Nonetheless, most of our operators are doing pretty good.”
Lisgaris added: “People are really starting to get nervous over this surge and the restrictions. It’s frustrating that more people aren’t get vaccinated. There is a delay right now but people were slow on the uptake.
“It’s unfortunate that this will have an impact on people coming here.”
The BOEA, which has 15 members, was formed earlier this year to strengthen the voice and align the requests of Bahamian-owned excursion operators.
