The CEO of the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) has stated that the organization hopes to alleviate the Family Islands' airlift woes within the next eight to nine months, calling airlift shortages the industry's "greatest challenge".
Speaking with Guardian Business, TDC chief David Johnson stated that the TDC is in negotiations with industry stakeholders to increase the presence of Bahamian and regional airlines providing flights throughout The Bahamas on global distribution systems (GDS), which enable automated transactions between flight vendors and booking agents in order to provide travel services to customers.
Johnson felt that the TDC could increase the regional presence on GDS well within a year, adding that the increased exposure is crucial for the recovery of family island tourism.
"This is something we hope to conclude within three to four months and have it operating within six months.
"That investment, versus the benefit of making it happen, is a small investment. It's the single most important challenge and opportunity for us. When we fix that, you'll see renewed investment and growth in those islands," said Johnson.
He stated that trying
to boost the performance of the Family Islands' tourism sector was currently akin to "fighting with our hands behind our backs", due to inadequate airlift servicing the country aside from New Providence, adding that it was easily the single greatest challenge facing the tourism sector.
"When you exclude Nassau and Paradise Island, where 80 percent of our tourism capacity happens to be, the other islands suffer from a major deficiency, which is airlift. Family Islands have inadequate or nil airlift, and what airlift they have the price is completely out of sync with market prices.
"It's very difficult challenge for resort operators to achieve profitability in the other areas because they've got this huge disadvantage with access and pricing," said Johnson.
Under the country's current GDS exposure, Johnson argued that many tourists would come to the conclusion that travel to Family Islands is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
"That can be fixed. As we restructure, we had to find a way to enable all of these flights with fixed schedules approved by the Ministry of Transport; we need to find a way to make those flights more accessible," stated Johnson.
Although Johnson was primarily concerned with the lack of affordable, reliable airlift into the Family Islands, representatives from Atlantis and Baha Mar had earlier expressed their concerns with airlift into New Providence.
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