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Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism industry has received a significant boost following the successful participation of the country’s Minister of Tourism, Charles Fernandez, at the Routes Americas air service development event held in Bogota, Colombia.
The Minister led a delegation from the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA), which included Charmaine Spencer, Director of Tourism for the Caribbean & Latin America, Norrell Joseph, Sales & Marketing Manager for the USA, Joel Henry, Business Development Manager for the UK, and Maria Britto-Bettini, Managing Director of BlueSea. During the three-day event, the delegation held 35 meetings with airline executives.
The discussions with American Airlines were particularly fruitful, leading to an immediate increase in flights. Starting from December 5, 2024, American Airlines will begin daily flights from Charlotte, NC, into V.C Bird International Airport, continuing throughout the winter season.
The Miami route will also continue operating two daily flights throughout the summer and winter, offering year-round service from Miami International. Delta will also increase service to twice weekly during the winter seasons for 2024 and 2025.
According to the Tourism Minister, the US market has shown the most expansion, with more daily flights added for the critical summer and winter months.
American Airlines will be offering daily flights into Antigua from JFK and Charlotte in the winter and maintaining double daily services from Miami, boosting air connectivity through the carrier’s major hubs.
JetBlue will also increase flights from three times weekly to daily in summer 2024, while Delta will increase flights out of Atlanta to twice weekly for winter 2024, along with United offering daily services during the winter months.
These increases in airlift from the largest source market will be vital to support the increase in rooms with new properties opening such as the Royalton Chic.
Other airlines that currently serve Antigua have also reported seeing a growing demand for the destination as a result of the aggressive marketing campaigns being rolled out by the Tourism Authority.
Participating in Routes Americas also presented the opportunity to forge valuable connections with influential regional air service development decision-makers and other tourism and travel officials, particularly in the expanding Latin American market.
During the conference, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority hosted a welcome cocktail to network with airline officials, travel trade, media, regional and governmental officials.
The annual Routes America conference and exhibition is dedicated to air routes development through meetings with global airlines.
This allows destinations to foster relationships with new and existing air carriers, to develop strategies, while maintaining and improving air routes.
Each year, the conference brings together key decision makers of global Airlines, Airports, and Tourism Authorities from across the Americas (North, Central, South America), the Caribbean, UK and Europe, to discuss and agree on their air route networks.
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