Travel Agents recently braved the wet weather and traffic congestion to welcome The Bahamas back to Chicago after almost a decade out of the market.

A Bahamas Ministry of Tourism Office that had been located in Chicago for decades closed its doors near 10 years ago, but Bahamas Tourism representation has returned to Chicago and kicked off with a recent series of Trade Shows and Dinner Presentations in the area.

The Bahamas Trade Shows and Dinner Presentations that started at the Grand Hyatt, O'Hare, were hosted to provide local travel agents with information on the exciting activities and new developments in The Islands of The Bahamas and easy and affordable one stop and non-stop services.

At the event agents shared that they were happy that, "The Bahamas is back and especially with so much information." Agents said that the presentation was timely and that they learned a lot about the new hotel developments. The presentation featured up to the minute information on developments such as The Pointe a hotel and residential community expected to open in 2018 in downtown Nassau; The Warwick 4 Star Deluxe All-Inclusive "Adult Only" Resort on Paradise Island; Hilton Resorts World Bimini and the Baha Mar mega resort that is expected to open on Cable Beach Nassau, Spring of next year (2017) and feature a number of luxury properties including the Grand Hyatt and the SLS Resort.

The agents who also expressed that the information was "in time for sharing with clients who will be travelling for the winter season,” learned that there is a plethora of one stop flights to The Bahamas including service on Delta Airlines through Atlanta to Nassau, Grand Bahama, Exuma, Abaco and Eleuthera; American Airlines through Miami to Grand Bahama, North Eleuthera, San Salvador and Exuma and United Airlines through S. Florida as well as a seasonal one-stop to Nassau, Bahamas.

Agents at Bahamas Trade Show

The Presentation and Trade Show was a part of The Bahamas Chicago Trade and PR Sales Mission to the area and was led by General Manager, Edward Archer, based in Atlanta. Other members of The Bahamas team included Mikala Moss, Area Manager, New York; Jeannie Gibson, Manager, Global Communications and LaBronze Williams, Global Communications.

The well-attended presentation and Trade Shows were supported by a number of Bahamas partners including Representatives from The Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board, Donna Munroe and L'Oreal Sweeting, Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board. Other representatives included Sandals Resorts, Grand Lucayan Resort and Apple Vacations.

Travel Agents from the Chicago area now have representation for Bahamas tourism and access to Bahamas information through the Bahamas Tourist Office, Atlanta. The agents in attendance at the recent events were added to Bahamas Tourism’s mailing list to receive a monthly Bahamas Travel Agents Newsletter. The agents were also invited to sign-up for upcoming Bahamas Familiarization trips. Agents were also updated on the Bahamas Specialist Program that is expected to become active within the next few weeks.

B y Jeannie Gibson