The Tribune

Tourism officials are anticipating an increase in airlift to the Bahamas from Europe following promising discussions with travel partners at the World Travel Market (WTM) forum in London.

The Ministry of Tourism is working to reintroduce direct charter flights from Italy to Grand Bahama, and to bring back direct flights from Germany. Visitor numbers from both those countries are currently up 6 per cent.

Anthony Stuart, the Ministry’s European director, said senior tourism officials had progressive meetings with tour operators and airlines from the UK, Italy, France and Germany during the four-day trade show.

“We are looking at partnering with them to get direct service out of those areas, and where we can’t get direct service we are discussing getting services via Miami, New York, Atlanta and all the major gateways to make travel from Europe to the Bahamas more convenient,” he said.

British Airways continues to offer direct flights into Nassau, and more Europeans will have a convenient way of getting to the the Bahamas next year via Delta Airlines.

“Through their Atlanta hub, Delta is planning to put on a non-stop flight into Nassau, which would give connections from 18 different points in Europe, so that adds a whole new dimension to the way that we generate traffic from Europe,” said senior director of airlift, Tyrone Sawyer.

The Ministry of Tourism’s renewed focus on the UK/European market has remained consistent over the past few years, but numbers need to be higher.

“We expect to finish the year with about 75,000 to 80,000 visitors from Europe, very similar to last year’s numbers. I’d like us to cross the 100,000 visitor threshold from this market, and we can do it because we have a product that Europeans love and many new things coming on stream,” said Mr Stuart.

WTM wrapped up in London yesterday.