The Tribune

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and private sector representatives teamed up for a public relations and sales mission in several US cities, in a bid to further boost airlift to Grand Bahama that is up 33 per cent year-to-date.

Raleigh/Durham and Pittsburgh were targeted, and the Bahamian team met with key executives in the private and public sectors, including travel agents and media houses.

The direct services from these cities’ airports will take place throughout October. Bahamasair is using a 737-400, 150-seat passenger jet, for the two-hour international flights.

The packages including air travel, hotel accommodations and ground transportation are being provided by Vacation Express, using six properties on Grand Bahama including two all-inclusive resorts.

On the most recent mission through Raleigh/Durham and Pittsburgh, the team visited with Convention and Visitor Bureaus in the two cities, and in addition to media appointments and sales meetings, paid courtesy calls on mayors William Bell, in Durham, and Nancy McFarlane in Raleigh.

The packaged programmes with Vacation Experess, which began in May, have yielded a 33 per cent airlift increase with stronger market positioning for the island.

Members of last week’s mission team included Edward Archer, general manager, Bahamas Tourist Office (BTO) Atlanta; Dornell Watson, senior manager, BTO; Jeannie Gibson, communications manager, BTO; Brooke Sherman, senior executive, communications, BTO; Donna Munroe, promotions coordinator, Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board; and Della Bridgewater, operations manager, Pelican Bay Hotel.