Fort Lauderdale, FL, December, 2019 – As The Islands Of The Bahamas continue to push its “15 Islands Open for Business” message in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the country continues to see an increase in airlift to three of its major destinations making it increasingly easy for visitors to travel from cities across the U.S. and Canada to enjoy a Bahamas vacation.
The Islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama, in the North West Bahamas, were both devastated by the recent catastrophic Hurricane Dorian (September 2019), however, Grand Bahama Island is recovering speedily and therefore, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, continues with the message that 15 of the country’s 16 Islands developed for the business of Tourism, are open and are ready to welcome visitors.
The Senior Director, Airlift Development for The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation (BMOTA), Tyrone Sawyer, recently announced that “There has been significant growth in air seat capacity to Nassau, North Eleuthera and Exuma, major Bahamas markets, from the following hubs: Charlotte, Atlanta, Toronto, Miami, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Newark.” The Sr. Director added that “These are some of the key hubs undergirding airlift to The Islands Of The Bahamas and this increase in airlift to The Bahamas is well positioned to drive the country’s tourism growth.”
According to Sawyer, “There is a high volume of nonstop flights from key tourist markets in close proximity to The Islands Of The Bahamas. This proximity advantage gives The Bahamas the unique ability to attract high income visitors, with the desire to achieve a foreign, accessible, authentic vacation experience, at competitive prices,” he said.
Sawyer also drew attention to the new and increased flights that will affect the upcoming winter travel and said that, “The Islands Of The Bahamas have and will benefit from increases in nonstop air seat capacity from core tourist markets like New York, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Boston, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, and Chicago.” He shared that some of the upcoming increases in airlift include:
• JetBlue will add a second daily flight from Boston to Nassau in March and April, 2020
• United Airlines will add a new nonstop Saturday-only jet from Denver to Nassau in March, 2020
• Silver Airways is adding a Ft. Lauderdale to Bimini flight, supported by connections through its Code Share partners, JetBlue and United, and;
• Air Canada will increase its Montreal to Nassau nonstop flights from two to four flights per week in December, 2019
The Tourism Executive pointed towards airlift strategy as the reason for The Bahamas’ notable increase in airlift and adding to his points, The Bahamas Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Dionisio D’Aguilar said that, “Over the past two years, we have seen improved load factor performance by most of our airline partners serving The Islands Of The Bahamas from origin & destination markets.”
The Minister of Tourism and Aviation also said that, “This increase in consumer demand, driven by vigorous promotional efforts in the marketplace by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and our Industry partners, has given our airline partners renewed confidence to increase air seat capacity from key markets to set the stage for further growth.”
Sawyer said that to support its airlift, the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation has embarked upon a robust, game-changing advertising and P.R. campaign in key markets designed to increase the performance of flights serving The Islands Of The Bahamas and thus provide the impetus for further growth. “The goal is to build upon a proven formula: build strong demand and airlift will follow,” he said.
