The Tribune

The Bahamas had a strong presence at the world’s largest general aviation show in a bid to attract more private pilot visitors to the destination.

The Ministry of Tourism and Aviation was out in full force at the 2019 Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh Show, held from July 21-28 in Wisconsin. Now in its 50th year, the EAA AirVenture Show is the largest of its kind in the world, attracting more than 500,000 pilots, aviation enthusiasts and media and industry professionals, as well as over 10,000 aircraft.

The Ministry’s team, led by Captain Greg Rolle, senior director of sports and vertical markets, and Frederick Donathan, aviation consultant, also contained executives from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (aviation arm) and Bahamas Customs Department.

“The Bahamas receives an injection of a substantial amount of dollars into its economy from general aviation business derived from this show, which is especially beneficial for our Family Islands,” said Captain Rolle.

“Just two days into this year’s show, we have already registered some 300 private pilots who attended our seminars and are interested in flying to The Bahamas. We have also received an unprecedented number of inquiries and expressions of interest from visitors and other private pilots visiting our booth.”

In 2018, The Bahamas attracted more than 122,000 private pilots, up from the previous year’s 92,000, and generating $387m for the economy. The Bahamas is also the leading destination in the Caribbean and eastern seaboard for general aviators #bahamasflying, #bahamasflyaway, #osh19.

The Bahamas is one of three nations, together with the US and Canada, that are members of the International Federal Partnership (IFP), consisting of federal government agencies committed to education, improvement and protection in aviation.