The Tribune

The Ministry of Tourism is testing the operation of pre-clearance facilities at private Florida airports in a bid to improve access to the Family Islands, the Prime Minister has confirmed.

Dr Hubert Minnis, addressing the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) annual general meeting, said the establishment of Bahamas Customs and Immigration facilities at fixed base operators (FBOs) was designed to boost this nation’s attractiveness to private pilots and help diversify the tourism product.

He described it as the extension of a system initially put in place by the Ministry of Finance and Customs to facilitate the delivery of relief supplies to Abaco and Grand Bahama following Hurricane Dorian.

Impressed by the efficiency of such a system, Dr Minnis said Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism, persuaded two Florida airports to keep it in place on a test basis. This was approved by K P Turnquest, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, and immediately embraced by those airport operators.

“Florida has the largest number of private pilots in the United States, and the third largest number of registered aircraft,” the prime minister told BHTA members.

“The Florida airport operators are now telling us that many private pilots hesitate when contemplating to fly to a foreign country. But if their approvals can be given before they take off from Florida, the operators are convinced that the traffic may substantially increase.”

The prime minister said a major reason for the continuation of the pre-clearance test was the recognition that it also opens up more Bahamian islands for non-stop flights without having to travel first to an official port of entry, clear Customs and Immigration, and then travel on to their desired destination.

Arguing that the system will save substantial time and costs, Dr Minnis said: “It is also likely to result in much more traffic into those Family Island destinations that are not nearby official designated ports of entry. If this test is successful, this is likely to be an important plank in our plans to diversify the tourism centres across The Bahamas.”

The Ministry of Tourism is also being approached to put the same kind of pre-clearance facility in place for seagoing vessels, Dr Minnis added.

The prime minister also praised the Ministry of Tourism for immediately launching a new marketing campaign following Hurricane Dorian. He added that its presentation at the World Routes Conference in September, which included aspects of the new marketing campaign, and channelled the message of 14 islands still open for business.

“I am told that after the Ministry’s presentation of its marketing plan, aviation representatives were so confident and optimistic about our destinations that some airlines have even added additional service, including United Airlines with a direct flight from Denver, Colorado, to Nassau,” said Dr Minnis.

British Airways will be adding one additional flight per week for its summer schedule, going from four flights per week to five flights per week with effect from March 2020.

The Ministry of Tourism is also gearing up to unveil phase three of its post-Dorian campaign under the theme Still Rockin.

“The campaign highlights the resiliency of Bahamians by utilising Bahamians to show the world that we are rebounding,” said the Prime Minister.