The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation and Air Canada Host Fam Trip for Top Chinese Travel Agents

NASSAU, Bahamas - June 7 - 15, 2019: The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation partnered with Air Canada, Atlantis Paradise Island, Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and Grand Isle Resort to host senior level managers from twelve leading Chinese travel agencies to a familiarization visit to The Islands Of The Bahamas.

The objective of the fam trip was for these agents to gain a comprehensive overview and understanding of the destination, and to connect with local industry suppliers so that they could create customized travel itineraries for their clients visiting from China.

The fam activities commenced with a gala dinner hosted by senior officials of Atlantis, Paradise Island.  Mrs. Joy Jibrilu, Director General of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, and Senior Director Mr. Paul Strachan were also in attendance, and conducted video interviews with Tourism Today, a local online tourism channel.

Mrs. Jibrilu expressed her thanks and appreciation to the travel agents and Air Canada for   travelling to The Bahamas to experience what the destination has to offer, and stated that she looked forward to their ongoing support.

Mr. Strachan explained that the fam trip was important to The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation. “This fam trip is very important because we are now re-engaging with Chinese travel agents and consumers so that we can increase visitor arrivals to The Bahamas from China. While they were here, we showed them what our country has to offer so that they can create vacation packages to promote and sell to their clients.”

During the seven-day trip, the Chinese trade delegates conducted site inspections of various hotels and resorts; participated in cultural, historic and family attractions, and experienced authentic Bahamian cuisine in Nassau/Paradise Island and Exuma – two of The Bahamas’ popular destinations.

The group travelled to Exuma on Bahamasair where they explored the main island and participated in a full day excursion to visit the breathtaking Exuma Cays. The excursion included celebrity private island home sightings, a stop at Thunderball Grotto for snorkelling, a visit to Compass Cay for swimming with nurse sharks, and stops at other islands where they explored and fed giant iguana lizards.

The highlight of the trip was a stop at Big Major Cay, home of the world famous swimming pigs, where participating travel agents were able to swim and play with these friendly, engaging residents.

The Founder and General Manager of Sparkling Tour Travel, Zhang Hong said: ”It’s actually my first time to The Bahamas but my company, Sparkling Tour, a leading high-end operator in China, started to promote the beautiful destination five years ago. We had learned that Chinese customers very much liked island vacations. After they visited beautiful popular islands in South Asia, they expressed that they would like to find and experience something new. So, from then on we started to promote The Bahamas. Now I think your beautiful destination is becoming more popular in the China market.”

The Islands Of The Bahamas have a place in the sun for everyone. Each island has its own personality and attractions for a variety of vacation styles with some of the world’s best beaches, scuba diving, fishing, sailing, boating, as well as, shopping and dining. The destination is an easily accessible tropical getaway with convenient connections from China through major cities in the United States and Canada.

WeChat: TheIslandsOfTheBahamas

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