The Tribune

The Bahamas has been chosen as a finalist for the Best Caribbean and Family Destination categories in AFAR magazine's travel awards.

This nation is going up against the British Virgin Islands; Saint Lucia; Bermuda; Antigua and Barbuda; Cancun/Riviera Maya; Aruba; Barbados; Curaçao; Martinique; Cayman Islands; Jamaica; Los Cabos and Grenada for the Best Caribbean award.

And, in the Best Family Destination category, The Bahamas is facing off against Big Island, Hawaii; Cannon Beach, Oregon; Charleston, South Carolina; Costa Rica; Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, Florida; Grand Canyon, Arizona; Orange County, California; Orlando, Florida; Puerto Rico; Riviera Maya, Mexico; San Diego, California and Toronto, Canada.

The public can vote at AFAR.com. The magazine will publicly reveal the Travelers' Choice Destination winners on December 13 via the website, and in their January/February 2019 "Where to Go" issue.

Joy Jibrilu, The Bahamas' director-general of tourism, said: "The recent AFAR experience was undoubtedly one of the best media trips in the islands of The Bahamas. The writers, editors and guests of AFAR magazine got to experience the heartbeat of the destination, and are still talking and writing about it today.

"And since they already believe that the islands of The Bahamas are extraordinary, the public can help to cement that notion by going to vote for the world's best destination."

While the magazine's executive and guests were in The Bahamas, they met with Governor-General Dame Marguerite Pindling; enjoyed a People-To- People experience; painting on the beach with artist Antonius Roberts; lunch at Graycliff Restaurant; snorkeling at the underwater Sculpture Garden; dinner at the National Art Gallery; a boat cruise and beach party at the Maillis Farm.

AFAR's media coverage led to seven editorial pieces on The Bahamas, which generated an estimated 4.4 million impressions.

Using the hashtag #AFARBahamas, guests of the experience were able to generate 10,337 impressions on Facebook with 63 engagements, and 10,337 on Instagram with 1,783 engagements.

Through AFAR's digital campaign there were 5,236,593 impressions. In total, the AFAR experience in The Bahamas generated 20,198,697 impressions.