Their exploration of the potential inherent in the Panamanian market is taking the form of a Bahamas/Panama Trade Mission planned for later this month.
One of the aims is to negotiate the commencement of direct flights with the Panamanian Copa Airlines between that country and The Bahamas.
Last year, officials established a new department that deals specifically with targeting Latin American visitors for this destination. Director of the department Glenda Johnson said with Panama’s population being just over 2.3 million and its currency being on par with the United States, it could provide the volume and socio-economic class of visitors that The Bahamas has grown accustomed to receiving.
“While the Chamber of Commerce will pursue the economic opportunities that Panama has to offer, we strongly believe that Copa Airlines and Panama as a hub, feeding from their routes in South America, would be a success story for us in that we will receive substantialy more travel from these Latin American countries,” she explained.
“Ultimately we are building relationships between two countries, which we hope will benefit The Bahamas in the months and years to come.”
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Latin Americans topped the list of arrivals coming into the U.S. States in 2004 with 15.3 million Latin Americans visiting that country. During the first six months of 2005 Latin American arrivals into the U.S increased by seven percent.
Ms. Johnson noted that establishing a direct flight from Latin America to The Bahamas could result in similar numbers flocking to The Bahamas. Currently, The Bahamas predominantly welcomes travelers from the U.S.
“From these figures you can see the growth potential to the islands of The Bahamas and our goal is to make sure that The Bahamas gets a share of this market,” Ms. Johnson said.
In seeking to promote The Bahamas as a destination of choice for Latin Americans, Ms. Johnson said that the ministry has negotiated with tour operators to start programmes here.
“We have promoted this destination as a twin centre location, whereas visitors can spend a few days in The Bahamas and a few days in Miami or any other destination in Florida,” she said.
Director of Airlift Development at the Ministry of Tourism Tyrone Sawyer stressed the importance of securing direct flight from Latin America to The Bahamas as a means of eventually benefiting links between Bahamian business owners and the Latin American market.
“Right now we have about 90 percent of aircraft that provide scheduled service coming from the U.S and that remaining 10 percent is distributed between Europe, Latin America, China and the rest of the world. So as an objective we want to diversify and get more service to come from other places, hence our trip into Panama,” Mr. Sawyer said.
In 2005 The Bahamas received approximately 10,000 Latin Americans who traveled here via the United States. The ministry is looking to increase that number.
The Bahamas Panama trade mission is set for September 25-29 and will entail symposiums with representatives from all facets of the Panamanian economy.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
