The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A senior Bahamian tourism official has visited Japan as part of an aggressive Caribbean-wide effort to promote the region's attractions.

Joy Jibrilu, the Ministry of Tourism's director-general, was among 11 CARICOM representatives invited by the Japanese government to speak with high-level tourism officials in that nation.

"The objective was to see how we could increase tourism between our two countries," she said. "It was recognised in Japan that the Caribbean is a desirable destination, but they know very little about us and so this was such an incredible opportunity to showcase The Bahamas at its best," she said.

Mrs Jibrilu described The Bahamas as an easy sell, adding: "We have diversity, connectivity because you can fly to New York and straight to Japan, and we have routes that make it feasible."

Her visit came as The Bahamas increases its focus on the Far East tourism market. Dionisio D'Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, will shortly lead a team to China featuring executives from resorts such as Atlantis, Baha Mar, The Pointe and the Out Islands Promotion Board.

Confirming that The Bahamas wants to lure more tourists from Asia, Mrs Jibrilu said: "Travel from Asia is perhaps the highest from anywhere in the world. Air Canada has come on board with us as well. We will also have meetings with top-tier media to display a Destination Bahamas."

Air arrivals to The Bahamas are up by 15 percent year-over-year, according to tourism officials. However, Mrs Jibrilu said the destination is not resting on its laurels.

"Numbers are high but it is now incumbent on us to do everything we can to keep these numbers where they are, and to keep these numbers going in the right direction," she added.