Nassau Paradise Island brings sunny message to Toronto

Representatives from Nassau Paradise Island hosted media at a lunch at Tappo Wine Bar and Restaurant in Toronto earlier this week (Nov. 30), bringing a taste of the tropics to the middle of the Distillery District’s annual Christmas market.

Referring to Canada as the destination’s second largest source market after the United States, Fred Lounsberry, CEO of the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board, described 2016 as a more difficult year for visitors from Canada. Citing our warmer winters and a weaker dollar, Canadian arrivals were down approximately three per cent this year, however Lounsberry is optimistic heading into 2017: “There are a lot of factors that impact visitation but one thing we know for certain, it will change, it will get better.”

Most of the lunch was spent highlighting everything Canadians (and all visitors to Nassau Paradise Island) have to look forward to in 2017, among them the wide range of hotel and resorts options that even given the state of the loonie, “you can still get good accommodations for a reasonable amount of money,” said Lounsberry.

Hotels highlighted include:

• Warwick Paradise Island is a brand new four-star deluxe, adults-only, all-inclusive resort that features 250 rooms and is the first new hotel on Paradise Island since 2007;
• Bay View Suites Paradise Island is a newly rebranded boutique-style hotel (formerly the Best Western Bay View Suites) which reopens today (Dec. 1) as an independently run property;
• Atlantis, Paradise Island just commenced a major $20 million renovation of Coral Towers, one of the most centrally located accommodations at the resort, and work is currently slated to be completed in Summer 2017;
• The One&Only Ocean Club – which sustained “significant roof damage” due to Hurricane Matthew and is currently closed – is scheduled to re-open on Feb. 14, 2017;
• Sandals Royal Bahamian which just recently held a re-opening ceremony following a full renovation.

Lounsberry also highlighted the various events that visitors to the destination have to look forward to in 2017, among them the annual Junkanoo celebrations (Dec. 26 and Jan. 1), the LPGA tour and Bahamas Marathon in January, the RumBahamas festival in February and the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2017, which will be held in April & May and expects to draw more than 5,000 fans.

For more information, visit nassauparadiseisland.com.