Bahamas Air Travel
Bahama Islands News, Articles and Information
Bahamas PM Calls For Extension Of US Passport Rule
Hardbeatnews, GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND, Bahamas, Mon. Oct. 23, 2006: Bahamas Prime Minister Perry G. Christie wants the U.S. to grant the Caribbean the same reprieve it has given to the cruise line industry, Canada and Mexico regarding the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. His comments, made last night in opening remarks to delegates of the 29th Caribbean Tourism Conference, came ahead of a lobbying groups visit to Washington today, for meetings with officials of the Department of Homeland Security. This implementation of WHTI should be delayed until June 2009, which would allow the new rules to be uniformly applied and the playing field leveled, said PM Christie. The Caribbean Tourism Organizations Secretary General, Vincent Vanderpool Wallace is set to lead hoteliers, airline executives and cruise line officials in a push today in Washington for an extension of the rule that calls for American travelers to have passports by January 8, 2007, if flying to the Caribbean. Christie identified cooperation as the key in dealing with the passport issue, which Vanderpool Wallace has called a category six storm and which studies show will severely impact the economies of the regional destinations, many of which are largely dependent on tourism as a foreign exchange earner.Passport lobby gets US airlines' support
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - On the eve of tomorrow's 29th annual Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC) in The Bahamas, two major United States airlines have sent a strong signal of support for the region's efforts to persuade Washington to revise its new passport requirement that tourism interests say could spell economic doom for Caribbean states. Representatives of the region's tourism industry told the Observer yesterday that American and Alaska airlines have now signalled their intention to co-operate with the Caribbean's effort to secure a unified implementation of the passport requirement for Americans arriving home from the region by both air and sea. This, sources told the Observer, was a major development that could pave the way for a reversal of the discriminatory provision in the amended Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), and could also bring the US Air Transport Association (ATA) itself on board.Breaking the seal of silence
The Rotary Club of East Nassau recently presented thirty hearing impaired children throughout the Bahamas with new hearing aids and hearing aid replacements. As the children gathered in Doctors Hospital's conference rooms to be fitted with molds for their new hearing aids, or replacement hearing aids, the excitement could be felt in the air. The children, from Nassau, Andros, Abaco, Freeport and Eleuthera, enjoyed a day of fun and play, complete with clowns, face painting, games and balloons as Audiologist, Kim Scriven, and visiting Audiologist, Dr Ronald Jones, who traveled to the Bahamas at his own expense, to render assistance, adjusted the new hearing devices to fit each child's specification. Dr Ronald Jones who is also a Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders of the Department of Allied Health, Norfolk, Virginia, also presented a public lecture on "Current Theories And Practices In Teaching Reading And Writing To Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing" to the parents and attending teachers from The Centre For The Deaf.