The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A senior Ministry of Tourism official yesterday affirmed that stopover visitors generate “26 times’ more in visitor spending” than cruise passengers as he hailed Eleuthera for “leading the way in increased airlift” capacity.

Dr Kenneth Romer, the Ministry of Tourism’s deputy director-general and acting director of aviation, told the Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that airlift capacity to the island had risen by 4 percent - a growth rate higher than any other destination in The Bahamas.

Meanwhile Tracy Cooper, Bahamasair’s managing director, told the same conference that Bahamasair’s load factors flying into Eleuthera had hit 74 percent for the month of April and the Easter period. He reiterated that passenger traffic volumes had “outgrown” north Eleuthera’s airport capacity while the facility in Rock Sound required urgent runway repairs and resurfacing.

Katie Loughlin, Silver Airways’ manager of alliances and business development, disclosed that the carrier will be restoring its Wednesday flight to Eleuthera to make the island the only destination it will be serving seven days per week. The airline also plans to add more frequent flights “in the peak season next year”, which will run from mid-February to August.

Clay Sweeting, minister of agriculture, fisheries and Family Island affairs, told the Business Outlook that the Government remained keen on public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements with investors capable of designing, financing, constructing and managing the redevelopment of north Eleuthera and other Out Island airports.

“We’re open to creating PPPs with airline leaders to develop facilities and making them top-notch destinations,” he said. “I believe wholeheartedly that first impressions are lasting impressions. The first impression of any visitor disembarking any airline at any of our major destinations should be one of awe, not dismay.”

Pointing to the challenge and cost to the Government of replicating infrastructure and public services on 18 different islands, the minister acknowledged that access to banking services on Eleuthera - especially in the island’s north and “deep south” - was “a huge challenge” that both the Cabinet and ministers were eager to solve.

Mr Sweeting said the Government had committed to “build not one but two state of the art medical facilities in Eleuthera at Palmetto Point and Rock Sound, with the former set to include a small surgical ward. No price tags or timelines were provided, though.

The Department of Inland Revenue also intends to open an office in Governor’s Harbour “in a few short weeks” to help aid the collection of real property taxes, Business Licence fees and other levies on the island. Mr Sweeting also confirmed that shipping delays had impacted the start of operations at the Hatchet Bay packing house, especially the delivery of scales to weigh produce, but he hoped this could be resolved in two weeks or so.