San Juan, Puerto Rico–The Caribbean has traditionally eyed North America as its target market, with the Eastern Caribbean attracting visitors from Europe, particularly the United Kingdom.

With economies from these target markets in a downturn, industry leaders attending a recent regional tourism conference last week highlighted how they were being proactive to minimize the impact of these changes by tapping into non-traditional and niche markets.

Tourism is a vital part of the livelihood of the Caribbean. The industry welcomes 24 million stay-over visitors to the region annually. In some countries it contributes as much as 75 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP).

“Shocks throughout the industry tend to reverberate more severely in the Caribbean than anywhere else,” says Hugh Riley (right), secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). “Not surprisingly, any addition or reduction of investment opportunities in the Caribbean region is a matter that gets the attention of decision makers at the highest levels throughout the region.”

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For pilots and those looking to fly to The Bahamas on day trips, Long Island is a good base to clear customs, settle down or continue island hopping, claims a promotional video by www.myoutislands.com. Watch the full video here.

The last of the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources’ Family Island Agribusiness Expos took place in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, last weekend.

The initiative seeks to bring awareness to the importance of agriculture and fisheries and to increase meaningful participation by consumers and producers.

As well as Abaco, events this year were held in New Providence, Eleuthera, North Andros, Long Island, San Salvador, Grand Bahama, Bimini, South Andros, Mangrove Cay, Exuma and Inagua.

Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister Lawrence ‘Larry’ Cartwright was the featured speaker at the Abaco event’s opening ceremony. (Click photo to enlarge. More photos after the jump)

BAIC executive chairman Edison Key (centre) and his wife Kathy (right) at the Abaco Agribusiness Expo last weekend. (BIS Photo/Gladstone Thurston)

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NASSAU, Bahamas — Aviation Law specialist Llewellyn Boyer-Cartwright, a 29-year veteran of the aviation industry and senior associate at Callenders & Co., is among 25 lawyers worldwide invited to attend a meeting in Washington, DC May 22 dealing with aircraft leasing and the mushrooming demand for specialized aircraft financing.

“It’s an honour to be one of only 25 attorneys selected to attend and participate in the Legal Aspects of Aircraft Leasing & Financing,” said Cartwright.

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This is an excerpt from Bahama Islands Info as it appeared on May 2, 2012. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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George Markantonis, managing director of Kerzner International, which operates the Atlantis Paradise Island resort, said in a ZNS broadcast yesterday that the sale of the facility to Brookfield Asset Management would bring increased bookings. Watch the full press conference here.

Thanks to partners like Cloud Carib’s support and commitment in the region, VMware continues to expand in the Caribbean offering premiere cloud computing and virtualization solutions for SMBs and enterprises” -Hector Luciano, VMware

Nassau, Bahamas (PRWEB) April 26, 2012 – Following a period that has seen the company go from strength to strength in the Cloud Computing Sector in The Bahamas, Cloud Carib announced today that it has completed all requirements for the upgrade to Enterprise partner status, a highly respected designation of the VMware (NYSE:VMW) partner community.

“We congratulate Cloud Carib for achieving Enterprise status partner level with VMware”, said “Hector Luciano, Sales Director for VMware in Latin America and the Caribbean. “Thanks to partners like Cloud Carib’s support and commitment in the region, VMware continues to expand in the Caribbean offering premiere cloud computing and virtualization solutions for SMBs and enterprises”

Enterprise partner level – Why it matters.
Enterprise partners have a higher level of VMware expertise, which allows Cloud Carib to take advantage of VMware’s solutions more effectively to develop and deliver enterprise-ready cloud services to market. As an Enterprise Solution Provider Partner, Cloud Carib also has access to several of VMware’s products, licenses and support services — all of which will help us to improve the company’s results in the Bahamian market, which in turn will enable its clients to improve their business.

“Enterprise level partners demonstrate an extensive expertise in working with VMware technologies, along with a deep understanding of the key technologies in the VMware enterprise-class cloud stack”, Damir Lukic, Global Sales Manager of Cloud Carib stated. “We are grateful for the support we have received directly from VMware in the past months since Cloud Carib was established. To-date, we have invested in the formation of the business and forming alliances with leading technology companies, to bring only the best solutions to Bahamian and Caribbean businesses”

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According to preliminary statistics released by the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA) and The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation (MOTA), the 14-major New Providence hotels recorded an 84.3 per cent occupancy rate for March 2012, compared to 80.1 per cent in March 2011.

Room revenue increased by 8 per cent along with a 4.8 per cent increase in room nights sold. The March 2012 average daily room rate (ADR) of $283.35 represented an increase of $8.44 compared to March 2011.

Nine of the 14 hotels experienced revenue increases in March, with four of them showing double digit increases compared to March 2011. Four properties achieved increased revenues through increases in ADR and room nights sold, three through increases in ADR only and two other properties through increases in room nights sold.

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ATLANTA (Reuters) May 1, 2012 — AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE: GAS) today reported first quarter net income of $130 million, or $1.12 per basic share ($1.11 per diluted share), compared to net income of $124 million, or $1.60 per basic share ($1.59 per diluted share), reported for the same period last year. Excluding the 2012 effect of $0.05 per share, and the 2011 effect of $0.04 per share, related to merger expenses, adjusted EPS for the first quarter of 2012 was $1.16 per diluted share and $1.63 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2011.

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This is an excerpt from Reuters as it appeared on May 1, 2012. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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Nassau, The Bahamas – Chevron, through its’ local affiliates today announced that it has concluded the sale of its fuels marketing and aviation businesses in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Turks & Caicos to Vitogaz, S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of RUBIS. RUBIS specializes in the storage and distribution of petroleum products.

The sale of the businesses in these three markets includes a network of 39 retail stations, eight aviation facilities, six fuels terminals, one joint operation at the Nassau airport terminal and a commercial and industrial fuels business. These assets are in addition to the previously announced sale in the Caribbean and parts of Central America to RUBIS in July, 2011 that consisted of 174 service stations operating under the Texaco brand, an equity interest in an associated refinery operation, proprietary and joint-venture terminals and aviation facilities, and Chevron’s commercial and industrial fuels business.

This is an excerpt from thebahamasweekly.com as it appeared on May 1, 2012. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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In a special address broadcast to the nation ahead of the historic advance poll to be held today, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham stressed the importance for a continued, stable democracy in The Bahamas. Watch the national address here.