The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN tourism officials yesterday said the massive storm hitting the US east coast could further boost bookings that are already 16 per cent up on 2017.

Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism's director-general, yesterday said bad weather in the Bahamas' traditional north-east US market typically increased visitor numbers for this nation.

Mrs Jibrilu told Tribune Business: "It is perhaps too soon to know what the actual impact is of the terrible weather. We do know that when the weather is bad like this at this time, January, which is when a lot of people actually book vacations, it positively impacts our bookings to the Bahamas.

"As it stands, our forward bookings for the first quarter of 2018 are trending upwards already by approximately 16 per cent, so we should definitely expect a further boost. "This will be helped because we have been sending out Bahamas weather alerts in the coldest cities to 'gently' remind residents living on the east coast of the US exactly what they could be experiencing," she added.

Winter storm Grayson, which is being described as a 'bomb cyclone', is bearing down on the US eastern seaboard, threatening to dump as much as 18 inches of snow as well as hurricane-force winds and flooding.