Tourism Director optimistic about 2021 rebound

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2020 was a challenging year for tourism and it is still suffering severe bruises as a result. However, information from those on the front lines of that sector shows optimism. Tourism Director General Joy Jibrilu’s confirms what the tourism minister recently shared and that’s that there is huge interest in Caribbean travel, specifically to The Bahamas.

Reflecting this trend is the latest report from the Expedia group’s north American sites, highlighting that searches to and about the Bahamas have increased nearly 170 per cent in February.

Further, that considering the removal of the vacation in place requirement and the consistent border entry, the Bahamas has seen its most steady increase in interest among American travelers.

Streamlining the process of acquiring the travel health visa has also helped. Figures show that between November 2020 and March 23, 2021, the Bahamas travel visa unit processed 230,000 international applications, between March 1 and the 23rd, over 66,500 international visas were processed.

This leaves the director general confident tourism will only continue to grow this year.

According to tourism officials, as efforts ramp up to intensify the country’s presence in key markets, content production of the out islands, the partnership with award winning musician Lenny Kravitz and international media activation and airlift partnerships are in development.