Canadian High Commissioner to Barbados, Marie Legault and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, sign off on the new air services agreement.
Barbados and Canada signed off on an air services agreement yesterday, which promises greater tourism and business opportunities for both markets.
Pointing out that Canada had been the island’s largest tourism market in the 1970s, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, outlined that through government’s marketing push over the past four years, higher numbers were coming to Barbados – a situation that would be added to by the agreement.
“I am happy to say that with this new agreement, designated carriers from Barbados can now operate to any intermediary and beyond points in Canada and vice versa. Canadian designated carriers can also operate also to any intermediary and beyond points in Barbados, subject of course to regulatory conditions, and this agreement gives both countries the flexibility to operate without directional or geographical limitations… The new agreement therefore allows for greater airlift, and it is envisaged that we will once again see higher numbers of long-stay arrivals visiting our beautiful shores,” she stated.
Addressing the short signing ceremony at her Culloden Road office yesterday, McClean noted that in the international financial services sector, Canada was this island’s leading source market, and said the agreement would allow for renewed business investment.
Her signature was joined by that of the Canadian High Commissioner to Barbados, Marie Legault, who outlined that the figures coming out of Canada had increased by 50 per cent since 2015, from that of
15 000 to over 21 000.
“Air connectivity is crucial to growth, productivity, trade and investment,” she stressed, while pointing out that the agreement was an example of how the two countries continuously worked as partners. (JMB)