Jamaica and the Bahamas have announced a new partnership aimed at developing a cooperative approach to air travel and the further growth of the region’s tourism industry.
Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation for the Bahamas, Chester Cooper as the two countries participate in the annual Caribbean Week celebrations organised by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO).
“Jamaica and the Bahamas have entered into a new era of collaboration in consonance with the new tourism view of competition as the way forward, as opposed to competition,” Bartlett said.
Jamaica has been spearheading an initiative of regional cooperation in the marketing of tourism with Kingston piloting the multi-destination strategy of promoting the Caribbean as one destination in which travellers have the option of experiencing two or more destinations on their travels.
“We’re looking at how we can collaborate in the area of air connectivity to begin with. We’re looking at how we can advance the hub and spoke principle and to bring more visitors into our space,” Bartlett said in relations to the alliance with the Bahamas.
Currently, Jamaica is engaged in multi-destination arrangements with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama and there have been discussions with the Cayman Islands to put a similar agreement in place.
Bartlett said giving effect to this initiative will entail standardising certain protocols such as having a common visa regime and clearance arrangements that will allow for visitors to the Bahamas and the other destinations to market together and bring more airlines into the region.
The proposed collaboration with the Bahamas also takes into consideration the matter of training and the resilience building, which, he said, “has generated a big discussion around the establishment of a satellite resilience centre in the Bahamas.”