The Tribune

The Caribbean region's largest aviation conference will take flight in Nassau this June, bringing together major industry players and investors for three days of discussions.

The third annual Caribbean Aviation Meet-up is scheduled for June 12-14, with the key objective finding ways to increase airlift into the region.

This year's event will include 31 sessions and presentations involving 40 presenters. They include Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, and Joy Jibrilu, director-general of tourism. Other industry professionals will also join speakers from the US, Caribbean, Canada and Europe.

The programme will include topics such as regional airlines, route development, airport development, airlift's impact on tourism and the economy, investment considerations, trends in regional travel and tourism, product innovation, service and infrastructure, as well as tourism product development.

"The meet-up is not a typical conference just to sit down and listen. It encourages interaction between speaker and audience, and within the audience with the speaker as moderator. The meet-up has streams of parallel breakout sessions, so that participants can create their own programme and choose from a variety of sessions that may be of interest to them. Which makes the event more efficient," said Commander Bud Slabbeart, chairman and co-ordinator of the Caribbean Aviation Meet-up.

"The purpose of the meet-up is to gather audiences of differing backgrounds to inspire each other. If two differing parties have access to the same information, it creates a better understanding and better chance for co-operation, new ventures and new opportunities. Now, they can network and explore co-operation in areas that they never thought of before."

The 2018 Caribbean Aviation Meet-up is hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation.

"We are pleased to welcome hundreds of participants to this year's conference, and look forward to showing them the best in Bahamian hospitality. We are also looking forward to the many benefits of such a forum. We know that airlift is vital to tourism, and tourism is vital to all economies in the Caribbean region," said Mr D'Aguilar.

"The Bahamas is no exception. This conference will not only allow us to discuss and act upon essential airlift issues that affect our archipelago; we will also be able to acquire valuable feedback and information from the international experts who will attend the conference." Conference participants from 28 countries and territories are expected to attend.