The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Tourism is “turning in the right direction” with air arrivals at 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Dr Kenneth Romer, the Ministry of Tourism’s deputy director-general and acting director of aviation, said at the Aviation Safety Forum that the “strategic focus” of the ministry is to restore airlift to the country to “stimulate much needed economic growth”.

He said: “We are turning in the right direction. Seat capacity by the end of the year is expected to match pre-pandemic levles and it is our expectation that overall air arrival traffic will be at least 85 percent of where we were at the end of 2019, which was a banner year for tourism.”

The year 2019 was a record breaking year for tourism with total arrivals at 7.2m, with air arrivals at 1.6m of that figure. In 2020, however, COVID-19 had forced the country into lockdown and all ports were closed to incoming tourists.

For the first six months of this year, arrivals have already surpassed 155,000 passengers Dr Romer said, indicating that air arrivals are rebounding steadily from the COVID-19 impact.

Dr Romer added: “We are all in this together and even though COVID-19 remains a looming threat to airports, airlines, FBOs, our commercial partners and the world continues to adjust to what has relatively been now considered the new normal.

“In this new normal however, it cannot be returned to business as normal. This new operational climate brings new excitement, new opportunities but also brings with it new challenges.”

Asking participants of the forum to “embrace” these challenges, Dr Romer said that the aviation industry needs to “stand ready” to maximize the benefits of the industry and make safety a “key focus” along with exceptional service. “This symposium therefore presents an opportunity to build on that foundation. It’s an opportunity to bring together our incredible industry stakeholders to collectively share and address safety matters, to discuss lessons learned and to strategize on an integrated approach to risk management.”