Although the most recent delay at Baha Mar has not had a direct impact on airlift into the country, the tourism sector must "keep its momentum" to maintain demand for The Bahamas as Baha Mar prepares for an early May opening, according to Director of Airlift for the Ministry of Tourism Tyrone Sawyer.
Sawyer told Guardian Business that building demand remains the top concern for industry stakeholders moving forward, though "sufficient" airlift is already in place for the summer. To accomplish this, Sawyer encouraged resorts to work more closely with carriers on travel packages for the summer.
"We have sufficient airlift in place at this point in time. The amount of airlift coming into Nassau and Paradise Island will not be affected by the lateness of Baha Mar but the main concern is to ensure that we keep the momentum of our mutual efforts between the ministry, the industry and Baha Mar to ensure that we build demand for the airlift that we presently have," he said.
While the delay at Baha Mar has raised concerns over the country's room inventory, Central Bank of The Bahamas' monthly economic report for February indicated a healthy boost in tourism figures, with room revenues improving 11 percent for the first two months of the year. The average room occupancy rate additionally rose 8.2 percent to 70.45 percent.
Sawyer stated that he was satisfied and "very confident" with the present airlift into Nassau and Paradise Island despite earlier setbacks caused when Baha Mar announced its first delay in last year. In November, Frontier Airlines cancelled plans for two new routes from Trenton, New Jersey, which would have been a first for The Bahamas, and Washington, D.C. due to concerns over room shortages, citing the Baha Mar delay.
Sawyer earlier told Guardian Business that the ministry would "leave the door open" for future routes into The Bahamas through Frontier, but stated last week that there are no plans with Frontier in preparation for Baha Mar's new summer launch.
"That's really not an issue at this point. We've got many airline partners with whom we're engaged with as we plan our airlift strategy going into the fall, winter and 2016," he said.
Regarding the country's wider airlift prospects, Sawyer noted that the ministry is currently working on several airlift opportunities in the Family Islands to complement the recent Silver Airways routes introduced earlier this year.
Silver Airways, which accounts for roughly 40 percent of airlift from Florida into the Family Islands, launched new routes into Marsh Harbour, North Eleuthera and Freeport in February. While Sawyer said that it is premature to discuss any new routes at this time, he expects to receive early results from the new Silver Airways routes in the coming days.
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