Posted by: Editor on Feb 12, 2007 – 10:55 AM
newsandinfo  More than 8,000 potential tourists have downloaded applications for the US passport reimbursement programme from the Nassau/Paradise Island Development Board’s website since the launch of the initiative.

Kerzner International (Bahamas) president, George Markantonis told a luncheon meeting of the South East Rotary Club: “That there could be as many as 24,000 passengers, because they are downloading a form and studying it as a family, so I am glad we did that as a team, as a community.”

The initiative was implemented to combat any negative impact from the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative’s (WHTI) implementation, which took effect on January 23, 2007. The WHTI requires all US citizens travelling to the Bahamas and the Caribbean to possess a valid passport on their return home.

There was concern that the $100 per passport cost, particularly for family travel, would cause a decrease in tourist arrivals, so many Bahamian hotels and organizations representing them decided to offer reimbursements for up to four persons per family.

Mr. Markantonis said Atlantis, as part of the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA) and the Nassau/Paradise Island Development Board, were monitoring the situation closely. “I can safely say that for all of our properties, we have not seen a big effect yet,” Mr. Markantonis said. “However, there is a caveat to that. There has not been an affect yet. I think it may have an effect when a different income group starts traveling.”

“The people who are visiting the Bahamas now are not the same people who are coming in summer, and it’s not so much income groups as it is travelling with the little children, where even a six-month old is going to need a passport. I am not sure what we are going to experience there.”

Source: The Tribune
9th February, 2007