Last month was one of the most successful in the tourism calendar, according to Minister for Tourism and Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace.

The Minister, who spoke at the 30th Caribbean Marketplace conference at Atlantis Paradise Island today, said there had been a strong surge in business during November and December 2011.

“December was the best month ever in terms of room revenues,” he enthused. “It was an incredible month.”

In December air arrivals rose 7.1 per cent year on year and were up 15.9 per cent in Grand Bahama.

The Minister was careful to stress that these were unofficial figures, but indicated that he expected a bumper year for tourism in 2012 and said the sector was rebounding well after a drop off caused by Hurricane Irene in August 2011.

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Early signs of improvement in tourism are evident, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told hundreds of delegates attending the Caribbean Hotel Tourism Association Caribbean Marketplace conference on Sunday.

Organizers of the event, which is being held at Atlantis Paradise Island and is running January 22-24, are expecting one of the best turnouts ever of buyers and sellers.

This includes 679 representatives of supplier companies, including hotels, attractions, destination management companies, tourism groups and transportation companies, as well as 331 individuals representing buyers such as tour operators, wholesalers and online intermediaries.

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Leading lawyer Brian Moree has called for a “major paradigm shift” in the financial services sector so that The Bahamas can grow its economy and compete with other international financial centres (IFCs).

Speaking at the 21st annual Bahamas Business Outlook conference held at the Wyndham Nassau resort recently Moree, a senior partner at McKinney Bancroft & Hughes, said the sector was in need of widespread reform.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR! Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham (third from right) joins in with a toast during the celebration of the Chinese New Year January 20 at the Sheraton Cable Beach Resort. Also pictured: Ning Yuan, chairman and president of China Construction America, (second from right) and Hu Shan, Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to The Bahamas. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)

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State Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Zhivargo Laing, and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) representative Astrid Wynter have signed a $612,000 technical co-operation grant to help strengthen The Bahamas’ fiscal policy.

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Justice Charles served as a Justice of the High Court of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court since January, 2000. She served as a resident Justice in the British Virgin Islands from January 1, 2005, until her retirement from that court in December 2011.

Justice Charles also served as an Acting Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court on three separate occasions.

Educated at the University of the West Indies, Justice Charles received her Certificate of Legal Education from the Council of Legal Education in 1983.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham welcomes delegates to the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s Caribbean Marketplace conference being held at Atlantis Paradise Island on January 22, 2012.

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Officials watch the flag raising ceremony prior to the re-opening of the refurbished Rock Sound Police Station January 18. (Police Photo/Sgt. Clinton Dean)

Members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band perform at the ceremony. (Police Photo/Sgt. Clinton Dean)

The Bahamas and Malta sign a tax information exchange agreement in London, January 18, 2012. From left: Hanan El Khatib, First Secretary, Malta High Commission; Joseph Zammit, High Commissioner, Malta; Paul Farquharson, Bahamas High Commissioner, London; and Mike Guy, Second Secretary & Vice Consul, Bahamas High Commission, London. (Photo courtesy BIS)

The governments of The Bahamas and Malta signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) in London on January 18, 2012.

Paul Farquharson, Bahamas High Commissioner to the Court of St James (United Kingdom) signed the agreement on behalf of The Bahamas and Joseph Zammit Tabona, High Commissioner of Malta to the United Kingdom signed on behalf of Malta.

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The Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) is in the final stages of preparation for this year’s International Business and Finance Summit (IBFS) scheduled to be held February 2-5 at the Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbour, Abaco.

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