This year’s Routes Americas conference host Nassau Airport Development Co (NAD) has officially handed over to Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, the host destination of Routes Americas 2013.

The only route development event for the entire Americas region will take place February 10-12 in Cartagena, and will be hosted by Cartagena-Rafael Nuñez International Airport (left) and supported by its stakeholders Cartagena Tourist Board and PROEXPORT Colombia.

Cartagena, world heritage city and gateway to the Colombian Caribbean, has seen a recent rise in tourism, as overall visitor numbers to Colombia grew by 14 per cent in the January-June period of 2011 compared to 2010.

Rafael Nuñez International Airport is located within the city limits and receives more than 220 direct national flights every week, allowing more than 700 international flights to connect to Cartagena from other cities in Colombia.

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Delegates are invited to network and mingle in the main hall at the event, which is being hosted by the Nassau Airport Development Co (NAD) and runs February 19-21 at the Atlantis Paradise Island resort.

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Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) was announced as the winner of the first heat of this year’s Routes Airport Marketing Awards monday night at a lavish networking event at the Sheraton Nassau.

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Public Works and Transport Minister Neko Grant (right) is pictured with contractor Fletcher McIntosh in front of the fire/crash rescue facility. (BIS Photo/Letisha Henderson)

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Routes Americas 2012, a three-day conference promoting the region’s airline industry, officially launched Friday at the Atlantis Conference Center on Paradise Island.

The event, hosted by the Nassau Airport Development Co (NAD), runs February 19-21 at the Atlantis Paradise Island.

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The Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) signed an $83-million non-revenue water reduction (NRW) contract with Miya/Veritec at the Office of the Prime Minister on February 17.

The signing of the contract completes the execution of an $81-million loan agreement that was signed on December 16, 2011, between the WSC and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), secured with a guarantee by The Bahamas government.

The loan will be used for infrastructural improvements to the water systems on New Providence, as well as administrative upgrades.

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The Department of Statistics announced the release of its Births Report for The Bahamas at the weekend.

This is the first time the department has produced in one volume a report on the population patterns for the country over a 40 year period.

In 1970, when the population of The Bahamas was around 170,000, women were expected to have an average of four live born children during their childbearing age, according to the report. Four decades later, with a population of more than 360,000, the number has decreased to two.

The report also indicates that The Bahamas recorded its highest reproductive rates in 1970, when the birth rate peaked at 28.8 live born children per 1,000 population. This rate has steadily declined, reaching 15.5 in 2010.

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To help promote the industry, the Bahamas government has posted promotional videos and recently ran a competition for entrants to win a dream destination wedding, on its Facebook page.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), yesterday released a media briefing and report detailing recommendations to existing global initiatives to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The FATF is the global standard-setter for measures to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and the financing of proliferation. It is an intergovernmental body with 36 members, and with the participation of over 180 countries through a global network of FATF-style regional bodies.

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An event held on Wednesday this week at the Colonial Hilton in downtown Nassau detailed how financial institutions can comply with the newly created Financial Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) scheduled to become US law January 1, 2013.

The Bahamas Institute of Financial Services (BIFS) sponsored the seminar.

FATCA is designed to prevent the abuse or avoidance of taxation on income earned by US persons, especially via offshore accounts in financial centres such as The Bahamas.

The law requires US taxpayers to report financial assets held outside the country to the IRS. Foreign financial institutions (FFIs) are required to enter into disclosure agreements with the US Treasury. Non-financial foreign entities (NFFIs) are also compelled to report client information on “substantial” US persons under this law.

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