BA flights to the Caribbean
FROM GATWICK
BARBADOS winter 15/16 10-12 x weekly non-stop summer 16 1 x daily
non-stop
ANTIGUA winter 15/16 1 x daily summer 16 1 x daily
SAINT LUCIA winter 14/15 1 x daily summer 16 1 x daily
non-stop non-stop
non-stop non-stop
and for the Caribbean
Airlines Group (IAG), we continue to press the government to abolish APD. For the UK economy, it would be better if APD was abolished.”
Caribbean promotion
BA has not stinted on promoting the Caribbean. It ran a ‘Caribbean Escape’ giveaway of tickets at London’s Victoria Station in May this year, offering commuters the chance to win 125 pairs of tickets over five days. The theme of the promotion was “Escape the horrible weather”. “We offered people an opportunity to escape that week,” said Lacy. The carrier ran a Caribbean
marketing campaign on the back of the promotion, at one point flying out 63 former professional footballers to Tobago for a tournament shown on Sky TV. Barbados continues to be
the region’s most in-demand destination from Britain, with up to 12 flights a week this winter, but both Antigua and Saint Lucia now have year-round daily flights after the carrier increased Antigua services to daily this summer. Lacy said: “Barbados’s hotels have seen some investment –
Trade activity
“Agents are an integral part of our business and I don’t see that changing”
Sandals has bought a couple of properties and some of the existing hotels have added beds. It’s key that the product has improved and other islands are looking to get investment.” The carrier will add an 11th
Boeing 777 to its Gatwick fleet for summer 2016, but use the additional capacity to add new destinations beyond the Caribbean by flying to Lima and Costa Rica. “We’re looking to add more
breadth to the programme,” said Lacy. “We’ve grown so much this year [to the Caribbean], we’ll use next year to bed in the programme and then look again. “Next summer I’ll look for opportunities for future growth.” However, the carrier has doubled frequency to the Turks and Caicos Islands for this winter and next summer, going from one to two departures a week.
BA’s current ‘Big Take Off’ promotion runs until September 22 and Lacy promises “further activity later in the year”. He said: “We have a calendar
of activity with tourist boards to ensure the Caribbean continues to get its share of travel. And we work with the trade all through the year, with bespoke activities with various members of the trade.” In addition, the carrier will
have run 43 agent fam trips since January by the end of this month, taking about 500 agents to the Caribbean, and plans further trips in the last three months of the year. “It makes a difference when
agents visit,” said Lacy. “It’s difficult to prove individuals sell more, but our volumes through the trade are growing. Some of the trips are the result of competitions – tourist boards offer them as incentives. I expect to have a similar number of fam trips next year. “The trade is really important. Agents are an integral part of our business and I don’t see that changing. Half our bookings come through the trade and we want that to continue.”
PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD winter 15/16 5 x weekly summer 16 5 x weekly
via St Lucia via St Lucia
TOBAGO winter 15/16 2 x weekly via Antigua summer 16 1 x weekly via Antigua
GRENADA winter 15/16 2 x weekly via St Lucia summer 16 2 x weekly via St Lucia
ST KITTS winter 15/16 2 x weekly via Antigua summer 16 2 x weekly via Antigua
PUNTA CANA, DOM REP winter 15/16 2 x weekly summer 16 2 x weekly
non-stop non-stop
KINGSTON, JAMAICA winter 15/16 3-4 x weekly non-stop summer 16 3 x weekly
non-stop
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS & CAICOS winter 15/16 2 x weekly via Antigua summer 16 2 x weekly via Antigua
BERMUDA winter 15/16 5 x weekly summer 16 1 x daily
non-stop non-stop
FROM HEATHROW
NASSAU, BAHAMAS winter 15/16 4/5 x weekly non-stop summer 16 4 x weekly
non-stop
GRAND CAYMAN winter 15/16 4/5 x weekly non-stop summer 16 4 x weekly
non-stop
10 September 2015
travelweekly.co.uk 15
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