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Last Updated: Dec 29, 2011 - 2:18:31 AM |
Director General of Tourism David Johnson addresses tourism stakeholders on the importance of the Latin American market. (Photo: Derek Smith/BIS)
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COPA Airlines, which further opened the Bahamas to the Latin American market, is already prepared to upgrade its flights to the country if the demand is high when it begins serving Nassau in June, Director General of Tourism David Johnson revealed Tuesday.
Mr. Johnson laid out for dozens of tourism stakeholders the actions that the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation is taking to attract more visitors from Latin America and to better serve them. In addition, he pointed to the potential economic gains.
Initially, COPA Airlines will begin their non-stop service from Panama City to Nassau with Embraer jets that seat 94 passengers. However, Mr. Johnson said, COPA also has Boeing 737-800s that carry more than 170 passengers. Those jets can be positioned in the Bahamas if the number of travelers demands it.
“They have the capacity to immediately, if demand is there, upgrade to a larger jet,” Mr. Johnson said.
COPA has committed 20,000 seats to Nassau in their first year. This has the potential to double the Bahamas’ arrivals from Latin America.
Additionally, Mr. Johnson said all Bahamian islands could benefit from COPA’s presence through agreements the airline has with Bahamasair that allow COPA to sell “directly and seamlessly” into Bahamasair’s flights. This will allow travelers on the Panama City to Nassau flight to make direct connections to islands such as Grand Bahamas, Exuma, Abaco and Eleuthera.
Mr. Johnson encouraged Bahamians to embrace the Latin American visitors, offering them the professional care that should be delivered to all guests.
“If they are happy, I can tell you these are folks who spend money,” he said. “There is no recession in Latin America.
Frank Comito, executive vice president of Bahamas Hotel Association, said there is tremendous economic potential in the Latin American market.
“There is no recession in Latin America,” Mr. Comito said. “The continued growth of economies like Brazil and Mexico contributed to the region’s 6.6 percent growth (in 2010). That is more than triple the growth in the United States last year.”
The size of Latin America’s population also makes it a potentially lucrative market for tourism.
“The combined population of the US and Canada is just under 500 million people,” Mr. Comito said. “They represent almost 90 percent of our total number of visitors to the Bahamas today. The population of Latin America is over 500 million people. They represent around 2 percent of our total visitor population to the Bahamas today.”
The hispanic population in the United States is the fastest growing ethnic population in that country. Over 15 million people in the US categorize themselves as being of Latin Americna descent. Nearly half of them say Spanish is their primary language.
Mr. Comito also pointed out that Goldman Sachs’ Review of Emerging Economies projects that Brazil and Mexico will be among the world’s five largest economies by 2050. Peru, Venezuela and Colombia are among nations that have per capital GDPs that are greater than that of China, and as of 2010, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico and Panama were classified as high income countries.
© Copyright 2011 by thebahamasweekly.com
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