The Tribune

The Bahamas will host the Caribbean's largest aviation conference this June, bringing together major players from the sector and tourism industries for three days of discussions.

The third annual Caribbean Aviation Meet-up is scheduled for June 12-14 in Nassau, with its main goal to find new ways to increase airlift into the region. Atlantis will host the conference.

This year's event will include 31 sessions and presentations, and involve 40 presenters, including Dionisio D'Aguilar, pictured, minister of tourism and aviation, and tourism director-general, Joy Jibrilu. Other industry professionals will join speakers from the US, Caribbean, Canada and Europe.

The programme will include topics such as regional airlines, route development, airport development, airlift impact on tourism and the economy, investment considerations, trends in regional travel and tourism, innovation in products, services and infrastructure, and tourism product development.

"The Meetup is not a typical conference just to sit down and listen. It encourages interaction between speaker and audience, and within the audience, with the speaker as moderator. The Meetup has streams of parallel breakout sessions, so that participants can create their own programme and choose from a variety of sessions that may be of interest to them. Which makes the event more efficient," said Commander Bud Slabbeart, chairman and co-ordinator of the Caribbean Aviation Meetup.

"The purpose of the Meetup is to gather audiences of differing backgrounds to inspire each other. If two differing parties have access to the same information, it creates a better understanding and better chance for co-operation, new ventures and new opportunities. Now, they can network and explore co-operation in areas that they never thought of before."

The 2018 Caribbean Aviation Meetup is hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation.

"We are pleased to welcome hundreds of participants to this year's conference, and look forward to showing them the best in Bahamian hospitality. We are also looking forward to the many benefits of such a forum. We know that airlift is vital to tourism, and tourism is vital to all economies in the Caribbean region," said Mr D'Aguilar.

"The Bahamas is no exception. This conference will not only allow us to discuss and act upon essential airlift issues that affect our archipelago; we will also be able to acquire valuable feedback and information from the international experts who will attend the conference."

Conference participants are expected to attend from 28 countries. They are Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Canada, Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Nevis, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Saba, St Barts, St Eustatius, St. Lucia, St Maarten/St Martin, St Vincent, Suriname, Switzerland, Trinidad, Turks and Caicos, United Kingdom, US and US Virgin Islands.