by Jim Byers
Last updated: 6:02 PM ET, Wed March 3, 2021
Amazing beaches. Perhaps the world's most beautiful water. Remote islands. And only a three-hour flight from Toronto.
When the time comes for a travel recovery, The Bahamas is in a great position to capture some of the pent-up demand from Canadians dying to hit the road.
The folks from Bahamas Tourism staged a virtual Romance Travel session for media and agents on Wednesday, with lots of talk about luxurious wedding places and brilliant honeymoon properties.
TravelPulse Canada was able to talk with Elison "Tommy" Thompson, Deputy Director General, and Paul Strachan, Director, Canada, about what they hope is a soon-to-come tourism recovery.
What's the situation regarding travel to the Bahamas these days?
Thompson: Travel is permitted into the Bahamas, but coming into the Bahamas everybody needs to have a negative PCR test and they need to upload that to the Bahamas Health Visa site five days before arrival. Once you have that then access to the Bahamas is quite easy. Each day you're in the Bahamas up to day five you have to complete a questionnaire to see if you have any symptoms. If you're here more than five days, you have to take a rapid antigen test to stay in the Bahamas. But if you're leaving on day five or day four there's no need for a second test, unless you need it get back into Canada." (Editor's note: Folks flying to Canada are supposed to show a negative result for a PCR test taken within 72 hours of a scheduled departure. Canada does not allow the rapid antigen test for admittance.)
What's the COVID-19 situation in the Bahamas?
Thompson: We are very very pleased at the moment as our numbers are quite manageable. We had a surge back in July of last year, but it's abated. Right now, on average we probably get 10-12 cases a day. (Online COVID-19 statistics show 21,663 cases per one million population in the Bahamas and 457 deaths per one million population, which is better than Canada (23,039 cases per million, 582 deaths per million.) Coming into the Bahamas we're making sure protocols are very much in place. We work very closely with the private sector, the Ministry of Tourism and the private sector, to put together guidelines that guide the visitor from their arrival at the airport to when they depart again. Between the ministry of tourism, the hotel sector, excursion sector and the shops and what have you, everyone contributed. Every touch point that a visitor would go through has been carefully mapped out to make sure that visitors are protected, and also the Bahamians working in the sector are protected as well.
Losing all flights from Canada until April 30 was quite a big problem for the Bahamas, wasn't it?
Thompson: It was quite a blow. And, actually you were the only link we had to Europe, as well, via Toronto. So, that got knocked out of the ballpark as well.
With those flights cancelled through the end of April, will you push for Canadians to visit in the summer or gear your marketing to fall and winter?
Thompson: We're looking for every scrap we can get. (laughs). But from Canada our summer business has been growing steadily the past few years. We had both WestJet and Air Canada through the summer several days a week last year, and load factors were quite healthy.
Strachan: A lot of people took three to four day trips because it's only a short flight. The way we position it is, sometimes it takes three to four hours to drive up to cottage country from Toronto.
Are you optimistic about a rebound?
Thompson: From the research we've done the demand is definitely there. People are looking forward to getting back to travelling, and the Bahamas is perfectly suited for that getaway. People want to go to a place that's not too far from home, that is kind of familiar. English-speaking is quite a plus as well. Those things bode quite well for the Bahamas. And I think the COVID numbers, the way we've managed the pandemic, has been pretty robust. I think we've had a 60% decrease since July.
Nassau is very popular, but the Bahamas also is known for its remote, quiet outer islands. Is that a big plus for you?
Thompson: We have the whole mix, the whole gamut. One of the things that's really growing is the luxury yacht experience. What they like is you can come into the Bahamas and go to all these islands without needing more tests or going through customs in several countries. The islands stretch for 750 miles and we have 100,00 square kilometers of open ocean. And you have to go far and wide to beat the clarity of Bahamian waters. And we have some of the best fly fishing in the world.
Strachan: The Bahamas are perfect for social distance. We're seeing an increased demand for buyouts of small resorts as well as villas and rental properties on those outer islands.
When do you expect to see Canadian airlines flying to the Bahamas again?
Strachan: Air Canada is a great partner of ours. They've been flying to the Bahamas longer than any airlines; 70-plus years. When travel restrictions were lifted last June they were right back at it. They continued to fly until the recent changes took place (the April 30 flight ban). They're absolutely scheduled to start as soon as the protocols are lifted, and WestJet has made overtures they'll do the same thing. We realize there's a pentup demand for travel, and we're really just sitting at the ready to light up a plan that will target those people. We have a small population (390,000 or so).
Thompson and Strachan said the Bahamas expects to get vaccine shipments this month and that it's part of the world COVAX vaccine program. They also said India has donated vaccines.
Strachan: It's very feasible that we can vaccinate a majority of people in a very short time. We also have our Clean and Pristine program (for health and safety). We're close and we're safe, and those are the key messages we're going to drive home to drive sales in the very short term.
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