TUI Nordic Service Touches Down in Barbados
A contingent of 280 northern European travelers is now on the island following the inaugural TUI Nordic flight between Stockholm, Sweden, and Barbados.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony hosted in the Grace Adams Suite at the Grantley Adams International Airport this past Wednesday, Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, confirmed that the move to attract more business out of the Scandinavian market was key, significantly since the global recession had not majorly impacted the northern European region.
“We are building a relationship here that has significant growth prospects. We have already confirmed for next winter season a doubling of the capacity from Scandinavia. This flight is out of Sweden every other week, but next winter season, we will have flights every week alternating between Stockholm, Sweden, and Helsinki, Finland. I want to think we can build on that and go ever further into Scandinavia.”
Product Manager at TUI Nordic, Johanna Strand, acknowledged the marketing efforts put in place to ensure top of mind awareness of the island within that market, stating that ‘never in TUI’s history have we had such great support from a tourism organization.’
The dedicated charter flight from Stockholm, Sweden, marks the first direct service in 15 years out of that market and will operate a fortnightly service from December 14 until February 22, 2012. The airline will operate a B767-300 ER aircraft with 288 seats consisting of 30 premium seats, 102 premium economy seats, and 156 economy seats.
Strand also noted an upward trend from the full inaugural flight, confirming that up to the press briefing time, the entire program, a total of rotations total, stood at a 93.3% bookings level.
The trend comes from the momentum from earlier booking level, which stood at 44% in March this year. This service to the island will increase options for the broader European market, with those countries directly positioned to support the flight being Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
December 16th, 2011
