By KRYSTEL ROLLE,Guardian Staff Reporter,krystel@nasguard.com

By the end of the month, tourism officials are hoping to be in a position to launch their airfare reduction strategy, which they said would cut operating costs for airlines in a bid to lure reluctant visitors to the country by offering cheaper fares.

Director General of Tourism Vernice Walkine said the government is looking at removing or reducing a series of taxes, fees and charges on airlines.

"If we remove those that will in effect reduce the cost of airlines to bring each passenger here so that they will have opportunity to manage their yield through a pricing policy that allows them to make enough money but still reduce the cost to the customer because we would have reduced those fees, taxes and charges," Walkine told reporters yesterday at the 7th Annual Caribbean MBA Conference at the Atlantis Resort.

"So it is our hope and expectation that by the end of this month we will have concluded all of our discussions and negotiations with all of the carriers so that we can roll out these new fares," she said.

"We're really gearing up for the winter season. Our winter is generally February and March and to the extent that we can impact travel during that period by making it as cost effective for our customers, that's our goal."

The airfare reduction scheme is one of the Ministry of Tourism's strategies being implemented to help buffer against the economic downturn, which in recent months has led to job losses in the tourism sector.

Early projections for the tourism industry this year have been dire. Standards and Poor's, a leading international credit rating agency, predicted that tourism would be bleak in 2009, noting that stay-over arrivals declined each year since 2005.

Yesterday, the director general said the Ministry of Tourism is serious about its efforts to make a vacation to The Bahamas that much more affordable.

"We're working to the degree that we can to minimize the cost for our consumers to get to us," Walkine said. "We're working with our hotels to offer the best deals they can because everybody is looking to see how they can get the best vacation for the lowest possible cost, particularly if you don't have access to credit as you did before and so you're really trying to make that vacation trip out of your savings."

Recently it was suggested that the Caribbean would be hit the hardest by the slowdown in tourism arrivals as a result of a global economic crisis.

However, Walkine said The Bahamas is still in a good position.

"Everybody's dropping their prices and we're no different but we believe that because of our location and our proximity we are better positioned to convince Americans that they can still afford a Bahamas vacation, so instead of just going to Florida for basically the same cost you can come to the islands of The Bahamas. That's essentially the way that

we're approaching it," she added.

Jet Blue Airlines has announced it will begin to offer two new flights to The Bahamas on February 1.

According to its website, flights from Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau, and from Orlando to Nassau will begin on that day.

Several predictions regarding the potential impact of a slowdown in tourism have been made in recent months. S&P, in its report on The Bahamas, noted that the effects of the slowdown of the U.S. economy are being felt across all sectors of the Bahamian economy, especially tourism, construction and retail.

However, the report added that, "Despite the bleak outlook, the government's marketing efforts to promote The Bahamas continue and the appointment of a well-respected new minister of tourism with expertise in international tourism is encouraging."

Walkine said the Ministry of Tourism is continuing its marketing strategies in France, Europe and China, among others.