Copa flight signals new tourism era
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Copa Airlines ushered in a new era for The Islands of The Bahamas on Wednesday, as their inaugural flight to Nassau opened the country to convenient travel from Central and South America, Minister of Tourism & Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said.
As he welcomed Copa to Nassau, Minister Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that The Bahamas has always looked to North America as the primary source of tourism business. However, he said, it is now practical to look to Latin America for more business as Copa’s air network connects the Bahamas to more than 50 cities in South and Central America. The airline will operate a nonstop flight to Nassau from Panama City every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This is an era that began with the Bahamas’ hosting of Miss Universe in 2009, Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said. Bahamian organizers of Miss Universe were able to use the global pageant to expose Latin Americans to the Bahamas’ tourism product, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs eliminated the need for travel visas for Latin American countries.
“We said to ourselves that the one great thing we want to see come out of it, is this,” he said.
Minister Vanderpool-Wallace also pointed out that Copa already has healthy advanced bookings with 90 percent of some June flights and 80 percent of some July flights already booked.
“We have never seen that before,” he said. “So that augers very well for what we see in the future.”
Fernando Fondevila, Copa’s regional manager for North America, took part in the inaugural ceremony.
“We are very pleased to connect The Bahamas, one of the major tourist attraction s in the world, with Latin America,” Mr. Fondevila said. “We are sure that our flight will open many doors to increase the tourism and economic development between Latin America and the Islands of The Bahamas and the Caribbean.
David McGrath, honorary consul of Panama to The Bahamas, and Fred Lounsberry, chief executive officer of the Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board, predicted that Copa will eventually increase the frequency of flights to Nassau. Mr. Lounsberry said Copa presents many business options.
“We are now diversifying our markets as we have never done before, and I do predict as the Consul does that this is going to grow,” Mr. Lounsberry said.
Copa’s decision to fly to Nassau was attributed to outstanding cooperation between government and private sector organizations.
