NEW YORK, Jun 02 2015, CNS – Caribbean tourism official who are gathered here for the annual Caribbean Week say the gloomy weather in the tri-state area over the past few days is “a blessing in disguise” and they are hoping to capitalise on this in trying to drive up visitor arrivals in their various countries.
“I think God is on our side; we arrived two days ago (and) it has been the greyest, coldest, wettest June in new York; and after the winter that they had, we’re not complaining about this weather because what it means is that everyone will be saying the Caribbean – that’s the place to go and we’re here to welcome and receive them,” Joy Jibrilu, Director General of The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, told Caribbean News Service (CNS) on the sidelines of the conference.
“It is essential that we brand the Caribbean so that people know who we are, that we continue to create that awareness in New York. This continues to be a key source market for all of us and we want everyone buzzing this whole week, Caribbean, Caribbean.”`
But The Bahamas is already enjoying a bumper tourism season. Jibrilu said tourism numbers are up, describing it as “a wonderful rebound” for the first six months of 2015.
“In fact we are having the best season…I think since 2008 and visitor arrivals as a I said by air they are up substantially, I think some two and a half to three percent increase year on year to last year. Hotel occupancy, the best they have been since 2008, so very, very, exciting, promising times for the Bahamas,” she said.
The Director General explained that the key source market for The Bahamas is the United States of America with particular concentration on Florida and the eastern sea board.
At the same time, the country has also seen a marked increase in visitor arrivals from Canada and they attribute this to their close proximity to North America.
“This is held by the fact that we’re flying from eight gateways, direct flights from eight gateways from Canada to the Bahamas. And so our second largest island, Grand Bahama, they have seen an increase of 33 percent growth and that’s primarily attributed to all this direct airlift from Canada into Grand Bahama but also into Nassau,” she said.
“We’re seeing an uptick as well from Europe and we’re working on additional airlift so we want to see those numbers improve and increase.”
Caribbean Week, a celebration of the sights and sounds and unique vacation experiences and business offerings that the region offers, is described as the largest and most effective event on the Caribbean tourism calendar.
Its objectives are to create awareness of the Caribbean’s diverse product offerings and showcase the region’s desirability through consumer engagement and authentic cultural experiences; to offer opportunities for Caribbean government officials, private sector executives and industry partners to build relationships for year round business development; to engage the Caribbean Community – over 60 million strong and growing – focusing on the pride in its legacy as one of the most diverse cultures in the world; and to generate significant brand exposure for the CTO, its members and sponsors.
Now in its 42nd year, CTO Deputy Director for the New York office Fernando Abreu told CNS, the yearly gathering remains relevant.
“The Caribbean diaspora is very important to us, they are our ambassadors. So we invite them to discuss issues and opportunities that might be out there for the diaspora in the United States by going back to the Caribbean,” Abreu said.
“The Caribbean governments, they take the tourism industry very, very seriously. It’s a very serious business and the fact that the Caribbean governments are in New York it means that it’s a serious industry and they take these discussions very seriously.
“The tourism industry is like our bread and butter for our daily lives. And that’s why we are here,” Abreu added.
