The Tribune

The Ministry of Tourism is looking to the Middle East as it seeks to diversify this nation’s source visitor markets and attract more tourists.

The Ministry’s deputy director-general, Tommy Thompson, said senior executives had discussions with tour operators from that region during World Travel Market (WTM) in London.

“We haven’t sealed the deal yet, but we have taken the first steps to establish programmes in the Middle East,” Mr Thompson said.

“What we’re trying to do is ensure that the Bahamas has sources of markets year round. Different markets travel at different times, and we want to be sure that we are present in that market [Middle East] when people are making their travel decisions, so that the Bahamas is top of mind.”

The Middle East market is still untapped, with only a small percentage of total visitors to the Bahamas coming from the Middle East.

Obie Wilchcombe, minister of tourism, recently mentioned the possibility of partnering with Emirates Airlines, the largest airline in the Middle East, which carries more than 40,000 passengers a year.

Mr Thompson said the Middle East is not the only emerging market that the Ministry of Tourism has set its sights on. During WTM, the Ministry also established relationships with tour operators from India, China and Russia.

“The US market will always be the number one market for us, but we need to ensure that we have a constant source of business all year round,” the deputy director-general said.

Anthony Stuart, the Ministry’s director of Europe, said Russia is high on the list of emerging markets, as the number of visitors from that country continues to grow each year.

“We’re looking at what we have to do to prepare ourselves for that market. We’re asking the questions: Do we have the product that Russian travellers look for? How do we improve our product for travellers from that market?,” Mr Stuart said.

In 2013, 1,958 visitors traveled to the Bahamas from Russia, and that number is expected to be even higher at the end of this year.