Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy presents Captain Madlene Clausen with a plaque commemorating the inaugural Munich to Barbados flight aboard Condor.
GOV'T LOOKING TO EUROPE
Mon, 11/14/2016 - 12:36am
Government is committed to developing the European market in order to attract more tourists to these shores.
That’s according to Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy, who said part of that strategy will involve the Barbados Tourism and Marketing Inc. office established in Munich, headed by the new Director of Tourism for Europe, Anita Nightingale.
He was speaking during a press conference on Saturday night held in the Grace Adams Suite of the Grantley Adams International Airport to mark the inaugural arrival of the new Condor flight from Munich, Germany. Those attending the event were told that the new flight from Germany adds to the already two flights Condor is operating from that country out of Frankfurt twice weekly, adding some 257 more seat capacity into island.
“We want to make sure that this flight works, we want to make sure that we can again partner with Condor and other players out of Germany to continue to develop this market. It is true that in terms of cruise and homeporting, Germany is already a big player here in Barbados – the AIDA Cruise Line which is owned by Carnival and TUI Cruise, which is partly owned by Royal Caribbean homeport from Barbados. As a matter of fact, I believe that Condor leases aircraft to some of those cruise operators who bring Germans here to start their cruises. So we are in a very good place all round with German tourists and we want to continue to develop that,” he said.
He made the point while noting that with Germany being the fourth largest economy in the world and the strongest structurally, it makes sense to develop it as a major source market for Barbados. As such, he said they are also desirous of having more gateways in that European country in the future.
“It is in keeping with the Government’s policy of diversification of our source markets. When we speak about developing tourism and taking it to another level, we have been advancing investment in new accommodation plants and reinvestment in existing plant, we have been talking about restructuring our institutions… but another critical element is how we handle source markets – our existing source markets and new source markets,” he said.
The tourism minister’s comments came as he noted that airlift has been secured out of France. He said that an airbridge has been established with Martinique, such that the Air France flights will land there before bringing passengers to Barbados on board a smaller ATR aircraft. Sealy said that Government is committed to developing the European market, and will be doing so by way of the Barbados office which has been set up in Munich.
Additionally, he revealed that the Thomas Cook Airlines, which also owns Condor, will be starting a new flight out of London/Gatwick next winter, adding to the flight already provided out of Manchester. This, he
said, will provide British visitors yet another option for travel to Barbados.
Meanwhile, Captain Madlene Clausen who piloted Saturday’s flight said the airline is always happy to start a new route and is pledging to making itself as popular in Barbados as it is in Germany.
(JRT)