The Tribune

THIS nation must develop and implement a "sustainable airlift plan" for the Family Islands using Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) as the hub, a tourism executive said yesterday arguing the "opportunity is ripe".

Kerry Fountain, the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board's (BOIPB) executive director told Tribune Business: "We must take the necessary action and not just continue to pay it lip service. We must develop and implement a sustainable airlift plan using LPIA as a hub. Approximately 365,000 empty seats arrive in Nassau every year or 1,000 every day on average. The opportunity is ripe, with the right partner(s) and some creative thinking to provide more convenient and affordable lift to the out islands that feed into and are fed by the Nassau flights."

Mr Fountain argued that improving airlift to the out islands could boost hotel performance and possibly attract more foreign direct investment.

Mr Fountain noted that in fiscal year July 1 2017 - June 30, 2018 BOIPB member hotels, collectively, realised approximately 12 percent growth in room nights sold over fiscal year 2016 - 2017. Room revenue also showed a seven percent gain.

"Comparing the same fiscal year performance, but this time just for the same hotels that were members for the entire fiscal year in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, the gains in room nights sold were a percentage point higher in fiscal year 2017/2018 and the gains in room revenue were three percentage points higher," said Mr Fountain.

Mr Fountain said while there continues to be a slight overall growth from one fiscal year to the next, "buoyed' by the performances of larger hotels and a handful of others located on our more accessible islands, there remains a huge potential for growth in the tourism sector of the out islands.