A delegation of Bahamas tourism officials led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, the Hon. Chester Cooper are in Dallas, Texas on a tourism trade mission.
Minister Cooper met with officials of American Airlines, a major carrier of tourists to The Bahamas on Wednesday with a view to increasing airlift to the country. Cooper said, “we know know based on our surveys that our brand is very strong here particularly Dallas, Houston, Austin. We also know that 1.6 million new passport holders were developed in 2022, 1.6 million persons in Texas got new passports so they can now travel to The Bahamas, that’s a new market.”
Also part of the delegation is Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Director of Global Sales, Valery Brown-Alce. She told ZNS News, “American Airlines is our number one delivery of business for international traffic. They are 30% of our seat capacity into The Bahamas. Right now they have sixteen flights daily and they also are half a million delivery of business when you look at their total capacity and ability to deliver traffic into The Bahamas.”
American Airlines Caribbean Sales Manager Marvin Alvarez Ochoa said the airline is committed to its service to The Bahamas and its possible expansion. “Our capacity and the demand that we have this year is over 20% comparing it with other years. Charlotte is a very busy market for us because we have connection from all over the world especially Europe. Most of the business if coming from the US right now, over 90%, but we’re looking into expanding to other markets,” she said.
