The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemdia.net

A senior Ministry of Tourism official said yesterday that the Family Islands will soon benefit from greater visibility and visitor access, given that it has “revamped” its Bahamas.com booking engine to introduce domestic airlines into the global distribution system (GDS).

Ellison ‘Tommy’ Thompson, the Miniastry’s deputy director-general, told Tribune Business that this was “really significant” in terms of providing greater access to the Out Islands by transforming the way visitors make their Bahamas’ travel reservations.

Mr Thompson said: “We have revamped the booking engine on Bahamas.com. We are working with a local Bahamian company. We are now able to not only give a person international flights, but also bundle that with the domestic carriers such as Bahamasair, Sky Bahamas, Pineapple Air.

“So that no matter where a person is coming from, a person would be able to get their international flight and then get a domestic carrier to Acklins, Crooked Island or wherever.”

He added: “We are also able to package in there the hotel, and if there are any discounts that apply to that. It’s really significant in terms of giving access to those islands and making it much easier and giving greater visibility to those islands as well.

“A number of the local carriers were not in the global distribution system, so they didn’t show up, but now the bridge that we have helps them show up, and a person is able to book them instantaneously.”