The Tribune

The Bahamas has received the 2016 Caribbean Sapphire Pegasus Business Aviation Award for Outstanding Country Promotion, the first award of its kind for the region.

The Sapphire Pegasus Award is a symbol of gratitude for superb performance in an industry segment. The award was introduced to the region during the Caribbean Aviation Meet-up in St Maarten on June 13-15.

"Based on expert advice and the long record of outstanding performance, we decided that the Bahamas should be awarded for the excellent promotion of the Caribbean over a longer period of time in the business aviation industry," said Antonia Lukacinova, founder of the Sapphire Pegasus Awards.

"It is not just about the presence and presentations at international conferences and exhibitions, but also about the available online information and hard copy documentation. The explanations are so well done and comprehensive that they hardly leave an opening for questions. We believe that this needs to find international recognition and honouring."

Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism's director-general, was presented with the award on Tuesday, June 13, during the Caribbean Aviation Meet-up. She also delivered the keynote address at the conference.

"I am excited and thrilled by the announcement that the Bahamas has won the award for our outstanding promotion in business aviation," Mrs Jibrilu said. "We at the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation work tirelessly to create new strategic partners in key markets across the world to increase airlift and new routes to the country. That is our goal.

"We also go above and beyond to promote our destination, and position ourselves as the best in the region. As a team, we have accomplished many mammoth tasks and this award is vindication of that hard work. Thank you."

Finalists for the Sapphire Pegasus Awards are nominated by companies and individuals in the business aviation sector. They recognise the outstanding performance of companies, teams and business individuals from the EMEA region and Russia. This is the first year that four awards are being given out for excellence in the Caribbean.