BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, July 27, 2009 – The Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) is expecting a positive stream of visitor arrivals from South America following the commencement of the Linea Turistica Aerotuy charter service to Barbados from Caracas.
The twice weekly service on the 46-seater ATR-42 aircraft will leave Barbados on Sundays at 9:30 pm; then from August 1st through to December, the schedule will be adjusted with flights arriving on Mondays and Thursdays.
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Among the passengers on board the recent inaugural flight was the airline’s president, Juan Carlos Marquez, who said the service had been a dream for a long time.
“I have been with the company for 20 years and we have been waiting for the right airplanes in order to start this service. We bought the planes last year and completed the certification and acquired the permits this year to bring us to this point. We are delighted to be able to make a positive contribution to both destinations and the chance to enhance our offering to the world by working together,” he said.
BTA’s senior business development manager for Caribbean and Latin America, Linda Christian-Clarke, added: “We’re very pleased that the charter has started as it holds potential to bring visitors from Venezuela and from other connecting gateways such as Argentina and other South American countries.”
The BTA began building anticipation among key media trade partners in Venezuela around the service as early as March 2009 when Christian-Clarke hosted a team from Venezuela including journalists, travel agents and tour operators who were all given a comprehensive tour of Barbados accommodation, golf, heritage and culinary product.