Emirates, the largest international airline in the world, has signed a deal with The Bahamas’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote tourism in the Caribbean archipelago.

The airline and the Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism will collaborate to increase the number of visitors from Emirates’ core markets to the islands.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group, and HE Tony Joudi, Ambassador of The Bahamas to the UAE and the State of Qatar, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Emirates Group Headquarters. Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim and Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for the Americas Salem Obaidalla were also present at the signing ceremony.

His Highness  Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Group, stated,  “We are pleased to collaborate with The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas in supporting its goals to boost the nation’s tourism economy. Through our partnerships with United and Air Canada, we look forward to playing a key role in promoting The Bahamas as a key leisure destination. Our global customers from across our network can enjoy Emirates’ services to our points in North America and benefit from enhanced connectivity and access to the islands.”

Ambassador of The Bahamas to the UAE and the State of Qatar Tony Joudi stated, “I would like to thank Emirates for playing a role in strengthening the connection between the two countries. Tourism is the lifeblood of our nation’s economy and, by growing visitor arrivals to our tropical island paradise, we hope to achieve our goals of stimulating the tourism economy and providing impetus to the business climate.”

He added that Emirates facilitates global connectivity by connecting the East and West, and they look forward to collaborating closely with the airline to achieve their tourism goals. The economy as a whole will benefit from a further increase in tourism, and considerable infrastructure expenditures have been planned to meet the anticipated tourism boom. 

Joudi continued, “On behalf of the Government of The Bahamas and the nation’s people, we look forward to organising a familiarisation trip early this year for influencers and media to experience first-hand the best of our nation’s offerings and highlight it as a top tourist destination to their audiences.”

More than 100,000 square miles of the world’s clearest water surround The Bahamas’ 16 largest islands. Its desired beaches and immaculate shorelines make The Bahamas one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, providing visitors a wide range of leisure and cultural activities.

Under the terms of the MOU, both parties will collaborate on joint promotional activities to benefit the airline and increase tourist arrivals to The Bahamas by highlighting the destination’s appeal to tourists. In the first quarter of 2023, the deal will also include marketing efforts such as media and trade familiarisation visits, as well as the production of tailor-made tour packages that can be ordered by clients across the extensive network of the airline. Both sides have also agreed to study the possibility of collaborating on advertising campaigns to promote the West Indies as a tourist destination.

In addition to Toronto, Emirates now flies to twelve more U.S. cities. Thanks to the collaboration between Emirates and United, customers from anywhere in the world can use Emirates’ services to fly to Houston, Chicago, or Newark before connecting to Nassau on United. Air Canada, the national airline of Canada, offers flights to The Bahamas via Toronto. This cooperation was activated in November.

While the majority of visitors to The Bahamas are from the United States and Canada, The Bahamas also attracts tourists from other foreign destinations within Emirates’ network, such as the United Arab Emirates, Greece, India, China, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Currently, Emirates customers can connect to Nassau airport via codeshare flights with Air Canada via Toronto and via interline flights with United from major U.S. airports like as Houston (IAH), Newark (EWR), and Chicago (ORD). Emirates runs a sophisticated fleet of Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft serving a network of over 130 destinations across six continents.