WAV Travel News - Monday Edition
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
WAV: Many of us knew Gil very well. May he rest in peace.
Liberty Travel Co-Founder Gilbert Haroche Dies at 87
Gilbert Haroche, co-founder of Liberty Travel, died of cancer on April 23 at age 87 at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Haroche and the late Fred Kassner, New York University classmates, co-founded New York-based Liberty Travel in 1951. They initially focused on travel to the Catskills and Miami.
Haroche and Kassner are considered to be originators of the packaged vacation. They expanded the number of Liberty Travel locations and Haroche became responsible for the retail side of the business, with more than 200 agencies, while Kassner, who died in 1998, oversaw the GOGO wholesale business, which sold packages to other travel agencies. GOGO expanded by offering travel to Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Europe and other destinations.
Both Liberty and GOGO were divisions of LibGo Travel, one of the giant retail and wholesale operations in the travel business, headquartered in Ramsay, N.J. In 2008, Flight Centre Ltd., the largest travel company in Australia, acquired LibGo for $135 million.
Haroche is survived by his wife Charlene; two sons Andre and Maurice; a daughter Marcella, and two children from a previous marriage, Bob and Kim, and 10 grandchildren. A memorial service was held on April 23 at Riverside Chapel in New York City.
Death Toll Likely to Reach 5,000 After Earthquake
Thousands of Nepalis began fleeing the capital Kathmandu on Monday, terror-stricken by two days of powerful aftershocks and looming shortages of food and water after an earthquake that killed more than 3,700 people.
A senior interior ministry official said authorities had not been able to establish contact with some of the worst affected areas in the mountainous nation, and that the death toll could reach 5,000.
Roads leading out of Kathmandu were jammed with people, some with babies in their arms, trying to climb onto buses or hitch a ride aboard cars and trucks to the plains.
Huge queues had formed at the city's Tribhuvan International Airport, with tourists and residents desperate to get a flight out.
"I'm willing even to sell the gold I'm wearing to buy a ticket, but there is nothing available," said Rama Bahadur, an Indian woman who works in Nepal's capital.
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Many of Kathmandu's one million residents have slept in the open since Saturday's quake, either because their homes were flattened or they were terrified that aftershocks would bring them crashing down.
"We are escaping," said Krishna Muktari, who runs a small grocery store in Kathmandu city, standing at a major road intersection. "How can you live here? I have got children, they can't be rushing out of the house all night."
Overwhelmed authorities were trying to cope with a shortage of drinking water, food and electricity, as well as the threat of disease, and the government appealed for international help.
"The big challenge is relief," said Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudel, the country's top bureaucrat. "We urge foreign countries to give us special relief materials and medical teams. We are really desperate for more foreign expertise to pull through this crisis."
High in the Himalayas, hundreds of climbers were staying put at Mount Everest base camp, where a huge avalanche after the earthquake killed 17 people in the single worst disaster to hit the world's highest mountain.
Rescue teams, helped by clear weather, used helicopters to airlift scores of people stranded at higher altitudes, two at a time.
Sick and wounded people were lying out in the open in Kathmandu, unable to find beds in the devastated city's hospitals. Surgeons set up an operating theatre inside a tent in the grounds of Kathmandu Medical College.
Across the capital and beyond, exhausted families laid mattresses out on streets and erected tents to shelter from rain. People queued for water dispensed from trucks, while the few stores still open had next to nothing on their shelves.
INSTANT NOODLES AND FRUIT
The United Nations Childrens Fund said nearly one million children in Nepal were severely affected by the quake, and warned of waterborne and infectious diseases.
In the ancient temple town of Bhaktapur, east of Kathmandu, many residents were living in tents in a school compound after centuries old buildings collapsed or developed huge cracks.
"We have become refugees," said Sarga Dhaoubadel, a management student whose ancestors had built her Bhaktapur family home over 400 years ago.
They were subsisting on instant noodles and fruit, she said.
"No one from the government has come to offer us even a glass of water," she said. "Nobody has come to even check our health. We are totally on our own here. All we can hope is that the aftershocks stop and we can try and get back home."
A total of 3,726 people were confirmed killed in the 7.9 magnitude quake, the government said on Monday, the worst in Nepal since 1934 when 8,500 died. More than 6,500 were injured.
Another 66 were killed across the border in India and at least another 20 in Tibet, China's state news agency said.
The toll is likely to rise as rescuers struggle to reach remote regions in the country of 28 million people and as bodies buried under rubble are recovered.
Several countries rushed to send aid and personnel.
India sent helicopters, medical supplies and members of its National Disaster Response Force. China sent a 60-strong emergency team. Pakistan's army said it was sending four C-130 aircraft with a 30-bed hospital, search and rescue teams and relief supplies.
A Pentagon spokesman said a U.S. military aircraft with 70 personnel left the United States on Sunday and was due in Kathmandu on Monday. Australia, Britain and New Zealand said they were sending specialist urban search-and-rescue teams to Kathmandu at Nepal's request.
Britain, which believes several hundred of its nationals are in Nepal, was also delivering supplies and medics.
However, there has been little sign of international assistance on the ground so far, with some aid flights prevented from landing by aftershocks that closed Kathmandu's airport several times on Sunday.
On Monday, an Indian air force relief plane returned to New Delhi because of congestion at the airport, Indian television reported.
The disaster has underlined the woeful state of Nepal's medical facilities.
Nepal has only 2.1 physicians and 50 hospital beds for every 10,000 people, according to a 2011 World Health Organization report.
Doctors at one Kathmandu hospital said they needed over 1,000 more beds to treat the patients that were being brought in ambulances and taxis.
Thousands of Travelers Stranded at Kathmandu's International Airport
Upon landing at Kathmandu’s airport aboard a Thai Airways flight, Todd Pitman of the Associated Press reported an announcement by the plane’s captain that there was no one in the control tower — it had been evacuated due to an aftershock. The plane moved to the terminal more than an hour later, after a runway damage inspection by airport officials, and a confrontation between airline staff and a Chinese businessman passenger who refused to turn off his cell phone, wanting to contact his family to make sure they were OK.
As the plane approached the terminal, Pitman observed supplies and fuel being unloaded by soldiers from an Indian military cargo plane. The latter reportedly running very low in Kathmandu. He also saw foreign rescue teams organizing themselves before making forays into the city.
In the airport, Pitman noted that the hotel reservations area was empty, as was the money exchange.
But he observed thousands of people, the majority being tourists, waiting for flights out. Hundreds crowded the terminal, some even visibly injured, and thousands of Indian nationals formed huge lines in the parking lot, all waiting for evacuation flights.
Ghan Shyam Son told Pitman he and his family had been on a four-day trip as tourists and were supposed to leave Saturday.
"But our flight was canceled. We spent last night sleeping outside, in the open. We're trying to leave here, we're so afraid."
Pooja Bhandari, standing beside him, said simply: "No water. No light. I am hungry. No drinking water. No sleeping well. Very disturbed."
Another Indian national tourist told Pitman that two of her friends were missing. Twitter is becoming a hub in the search for missing tourists, a kind of virtual “have you seen this person?” poster.
Meanwhile the official death toll from Saturday’s earthquake has surpassed 2,500.
First Injured Everest Tourists and Sherpas Reach Kathmandu
A group that survived the avalanche that swept over Mount Everest have arrived in Kathmandu via air, Fox News reported. They were taken to local hospitals, but none appeared to have life-threatening injuries.
Seventeen are confirmed dead, including an American Google executive, from Saturday's avalanche, set off by an earthquake. The mass of snow swept down the mountain and over the makeshift village of nylon tents at base camp. There, dozens of teams, were training and acclimatizing to the exceedingly high altitudes, preparing to summit the world’s highest mountain.
In terms of the number of people present when the avalanche swept through, ETurbonews quoted Nepal Tourism Ministry spokesman Gyanendra Shrestha, who said about 1,000 climbers, including around 400 foreign adventure tourists, were either at base camp or climbing Everest at that moment.
Bad weather is preventing more helicopter flights, but the 22 most severely injured were taken to the nearest medical facility in the village of Pheriche for treatment.
Of those who arrived at Kathmandu, 12 were Nepalese Sherpas, and one person each from China, South Korea, and Japan. The sherpas said they feared more could be dead on the mountain.
Bhim Bahadur Khatri, 35, a survivor flown into Kathmandu, painted a harrowing picture of the avalanche and its aftermath to the Associated Press. He was cooking in a meal tent when the quake struck.
"We all rushed out to the open and the next moment a huge wall of snow just piled on me," he said at the airport before transport to the hospital. "I managed to dig out of what could easily have been my grave. I wiggled and used my hands as claws to dig as much as I could. I was suffocating, I could not breathe. But I knew I had to survive."
He dug out, and was faced with a scene of destruction. "I looked around and saw the tents all torn and crushed. Many people were injured," he said. "I had lived but lost many of my friends."
The danger is still very real for climbers still trapped above base camp. Garrett Madison, owner of the Seattle-based Madison Mountaineering expedition company, and 18 other climbers are stranded at two locations farther up the mountain. Madison managed to make a satellite phone call that was posted on the company’s website. He said, in part:
“We have been up here at Camp 2 hanging tough but we are running low on food and fuel and we have to get down. There’s no path or route through the Khumbu icefall at this point in time. The teams that have tried to make their way through the icefall today were unsuccessful and will not be attempting again in the future. So at this point our only option to get down is by helicopter evacuation.”
He also paid tribute to Marisa Eve Girawong, an emergency room physician's assistant who was serving as base camp doctor for the company who was killed in the avalanche.
The video below was shot at the moment the avalanche hit Everest Base Camp:
New Delays Loom For Behind-Schedule Baha Mar Mega-Resort
It appears the oft-delayed $3.5 billion Baha Mar mega-resort project may once again miss an opening deadline.
Statements on the company’s Facebook page say the resort’s flagship property, the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, will open in May with all rooms in all of the resort’s four hotels completed later in June.
However numerous Bahamas press reports say room reservations at the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel will not be available until June. Furthermore, bookings and the other three properties will not be available until August.
In fact July is the earliest month for which the Baha Mar website is currently accepting Baha Mar Casino & Hotel bookings. Site users are also informed that rooms reservations are currently unavailable for the Grand Hyatt, SLS Lux and Rosewood hotels at the complex.
In addition, a Bahamas Electricity Corporation official told the Nassau Guardian he has been “reliably informed” the resort will not open until June. When contacted by TravelPulse.com, Baha Mar officials declined to comment on the most recent delay.
However in local news reports, Baha Mar chairman Sarkis Izmirlian has cited “a less-than-ideal business climate” in the Bahamas as being behind the project’s many delays.
Izmirlian has also complained about the reliability and cost of electrical power, government-run education and training programs that were promised but have not been provided, and the developer’s obligation to rely on government growth incentives.
Local media has also reported of “tension” between Baha Mar and its general contractor, China Construction America.
Obie Wilchcombe, the Bahamas’ tourism minister, told Bahamas media that Izmirlian’s concerns “are noted.” He said the government and the developer are “working assiduously to get the resort opened.”
Four Seasons unveils the new Four Seasons Private Jet, Industry first fully-branded jet experiences.
The culmination of a vision to deliver a fully immersive Four Seasons Private Jet Experience both in the air and on the ground, every element of the private jet journey has been re-imagined and designed through the Four Seasons lens to capture the company’s signature aesthetic, style and legendary service in the sky.
Building on a history of innovation, the Four Seasons Private Jet exemplifies the company’s commitment to evolving the guest experience to anticipate and exceed the changing needs of the modern luxury traveller.
Contemporary design combined with luxurious finishes is featured throughout the aircraft. The interior is light and fresh, featuring carefully placed contrasts in colour palette and texture. From the hand-crafted leather flatbed seats by specialised aerospace Italian designer Iacobucci and hand-woven woollen carpeting to fine tableware, cosy Mongolian cashmere blankets and cabin crew uniforms, no detail has been overlooked.
The exterior makeover of the aircraft has been conceived to stand the test of time – and high altitude – both for endurance and design aesthetic thanks to a high-gloss black finish and the largest rendition ever of the Four Seasons tree logo – a worldwide symbol of luxury hospitality and personalised service for more than 50 years.
“In our hotels, spaces are conceived as settings for great experiences,” says Dana Kalczak, Vice President, Design, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “The same is true for the Four Seasons Private Jet. Along with the core objectives of comfort and functionality – and adherence to strict aircraft safety standards – we wanted to create an exceptionally luxurious ambiance, and Champagne and caviar became our inspiration.”
Ten Four Seasons trained in-flight crew, including an Executive Chef, a Sous Chef, a Four Seasons Concierge and a Global Guest Services Manager, are committed to making the journey truly personalised. Even the dining experience has been taken to an entirely new level, with a quality of culinary excellence, presentation and service rarely enjoyed in the skies.
Chef Kerry Sear says: “Our aim is to recreate the hotel experience on the Four Seasons Private Jet, which means creating innovative meals using fresh ingredients, served on the finest tableware and linens, all with impeccable Four Seasons service. The only real difference is that occasionally we have to do a little juggling when there’s turbulence!”
Each Four Seasons journey includes air travel and ground transportation, planned excursions, all meals and beverages throughout the trip, and luxurious accommodations exclusively at Four Seasons hotels and resorts around the world.
In conjunction with these Four Seasons Private Jet Experiences, the Four Seasons Private Jet, including accompanying staff and crew, may also be privately chartered.
Cheaper fuel has airlines soaring to record profits
DALLAS — For airlines, the record profits keep coming, thanks to cheaper jet fuel.
Like motorists, airlines have been saving money at the pump since oil prices began plunging last summer. Even with a recent increase, the spot price of jet fuel is down 40 percent since September. Airlines are getting such a price break that profits are surging even though their revenue is flat or declining.
At American Airlines, passengers flew fewer miles and revenue declined 2 percent in the first quarter. But thanks to a $1.36 billion cut in its fuel bill, American reported Friday that it earned a first-quarter record $932 million.
The other three U.S. airline giants reported similar results in recent days:
— United Airlines posted record first-quarter earnings of $508 million, even though revenue dipped 1 percent; it saved more than $1 billion on fuel.
— Delta more than tripled its net income to $746 million after spending $600 million less on fuel.
— Southwest tripled its profit to a record $453 million; fuel savings were $437 million.
Those are stunning results when you consider that the first quarter is usually the weakest of the year for airlines. From 2000 through 2013, the nation's airlines lost money in the first quarter every year but one, according to government figures.
One reason is that the big airlines have held on to most of their savings from cheaper fuel. They haven't shared the bounty with passengers through lower fares because travel demand has remained steady and most planes are nearly full at current ticket prices.
The average domestic round-trip ticket sold so far is $454 including taxes, a savings of just $2 from last summer despite the huge drop in fuel prices, according to the Airlines Reporting Corp., which processes ticket transactions for airlines and travel agencies.
Now the airlines are heading into their best season, summer. United, Southwest and Alaska Airlines all said they plan to increase passenger-carrying capacity — that usually means adding more flights or using bigger planes — to take advantage of summer demand.
The airlines could be challenged to keep boosting their profits later this year, when their results will be compared with the low fuel prices of late 2014.
American's president, Scott Kirby, said the airline must increase revenue for every seat it flies one mile, a figure known in the industry by the acronym RASM.
"We will have to get to a world where RASM is growing, and I hope that will be the case," Kirby said on a conference call with analysts and reporters. "There are all kinds of things we do to try to manage the business ... and try to increase revenues."
The per-mile figure cited by Kirby fell 2 percent in the first quarter at American, and the company predicted it will drop even more sharply — between 4 percent and 6 percent — in the second quarter. United gave the identical forecast on Thursday, while Delta Air Lines Inc. said last week that the per-mile revenue would decline by 2 percent to 4 percent.
U.S. airlines hope to reverse that slide by cutting back on plans to expand flying later this year, especially on international routes, where their profits are suffering because of the strong U.S. dollar and weaker travel in oil-producing countries. Reducing capacity tends to lead to higher fares and fewer empty seats — the simple math of supply and demand.
J.P. Morgan analyst Jamie Baker said the second quarter was likely to mark the weakest period for the revenue figure.
The airlines have some other built-in advantages that might also help them increase revenue. Between the U.S. and Europe and on other key international routes, U.S. airlines work with foreign partners to set fares — a practice made possible because the U.S. government granted them immunity from antitrust laws.
"The airlines see significant benefit from that. For the consumer, the jury is out," said Bob Mann, a consultant and former American Airlines executive. He said airlines also have become more skilled at getting the most revenue from every flight by matching supply and demand, even down to the time of day, day of week, and season of the year of each flight.
Ryanair predicts fares to tumble over next two years
Ryanair expects to cut its airfares by at least 10% to 15% over the next two years due to falling oil prices.
Boss Michael O'Leary told a French newspaper the airline would pass the decrease in costs on to consumers.
He told the French weekly Le Journal Du Dimanche that Ryanair's average fare could be €40 by 2016. It is currently €46, he said.
"This will come as we pass on lower oil prices. We will also continue to grow passenger numbers and cut our costs," O'Leary told the paper.
Starwood keyless entry coming to Apple Watch
Starwood Hotels & Resorts' new Apple Watch app will allow guests to skip front desk queues and directly open hotel rooms at 100 hotels in its portfolio.
Following similar tech first introduced last year for smart phone users, the service is available for registered loyalty members of Starwood's SPG program at 100 Aloft, Element and W branded hotels.
After registering for SPG Keyless, room details will be automatically sent to SPG members who can simply tap the door with their wrist to enable entry.
The app also allows guests to view check-in details and general hotel information, booking details and the status of their SPG rewards account.
Starwood said it plans to expand Apple Watch keyless entry to more than 30,000 hotel rooms in the future.
Big Pine man is bit by a shark while photographing it, 58 stitches ensue
A Big Pine Key shark enthusiast is lucky to have his left arm after being bitten by a blue shark April 13 in ocean waters near mile marker 20.
Mark Rackley, a shark videographer for more than 25 years, said he knew he got too close to the shark but couldn't help himself. Rackley said he agitated the shark by following it out 300 yards into the ocean.
"I've never seen a blue shark in the Keys before," said Rackley, who estimates the shark was between 8 and 9 feet long. "I maneuvered to be in front of her to take photos. When I was over her, she swung her head around immediately and clamped onto my shoulder and bicep. It happened before I could blink."
Rackley let go of his camera and grabbed the shark, which immediately let him go. But even while being bit, Rackley said, "I thought to myself, 'What a beautiful shark.' "
Rackley, 48, was rushed to Lower Keys Medical Center on Stock Island following the bite. He received 58 stitches, each three quarters of an inch apart so any infectious germs could drain from the wound. Rackley said other than scars on his left bicep and shoulder, his recovery has been smooth and infection-free.
Rackley described the bite as initially painful but numbing after a few seconds. It caused him to be lightheaded and he passed out in the emergency room.
Rackley is unsure if the blue shark was male or female but referred to it as a she.
Blue sharks are rarely found in the Keys. According to National Geographic, blue sharks are a migratory deep-water shark traveling as far north as New York and as far south as Brazil.
Shark bites and attacks are uncommon. Deaths are even more uncommon.
George Burgess, curator of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, said Florida had 28 confirmed cases of shark bites -- most in the world -- last year. The group confirmed 72 worldwide attacks in 2014.
Burgess said there are more shark attacks in Florida than other places due to a growing state population and, in turn, more people using the water.
"The reality is we're putting more people in the water and we've got a very long coastline," Burgess said. "When you get lots people going into the water, you're going to get more shark interactions."
Burgess added most bites come from sharks that are 6 feet or shorter and are in conditions of limited visibility.
"We call them hit-and-run incidents. Sharks usually let go because it bit off more than it can literally chew after finding another five feet attached to a hand or foot," Burgess said.
The International Shark Attack File confirmed three shark-related deaths last year, two in Australia and one in South Africa.
Rackley, who has filmed sharks for Discovery Channel and National Geographic, said his bite won't stop him from interacting with sharks in the future.
"I kind of made this happen. This didn't have anything to do with shark behavior," Rackley said. "I've had numerous close calls and I've seen that type of strike before."
Rackley said the scariest encounter he had involved a shark getting its mouth around his whole arm. Luckily, the shark let go and Rackley sustained injuries only to his wrist.
For others who encounter sharks, Rackley recommends observing from a distance.
"If it gets too close, get out of the water," he said. "They're beautiful animals that are supposed to be there in the ocean."
Southwest jet strikes truck on OIA tarmac, delaying its takeoff
Although it reportedly struck a truck on the tarmac Sunday afternoon, a Southwest jet aircraft was able to take off for Atlanta as planned.
According to Southwest officials, Flight 1717 was backing up along the Orlando International Airport tarmac when the right wing of the aircraft hit a provisioning truck.
The plane was scheduled to take off at 5:20 p.m., as stated on the flight tracking site FlightAware.
Though no one reported an injury from the incident, the "very light contact" caused about an hour delay to Atlanta for the 143 passengers and five crew members aboard, said Southwest spokesperson Chris Mainz.
Flight 1717 was unable to take off until 6:50 p.m., according to FlightAware, which put the plane's arrival at Hartsfield-Jackson International at 8:02 p.m. instead of 6:32 p.m.
"Our maintenance crew did a thorough inspection of the impact areas and found no damage," Mainz stated in an email.
According to Mainz, neither the aircraft or truck sustained damage.
Joke tweet sparks debate over airline computer security
When it comes to security, airlines have never been known for their sense of humor.
That became particularly apparent this month to a cybersecurity expert who joked during a flight about hacking into a commercial airplane’s avionics computers through its wireless Internet system.
It prompted a quick response from airlines, plane manufacturers and onboard Wi-Fi makers who insist that it cannot be done. Security experts say nothing is impossible.
The debate erupted after cybersecurity expert Chris Roberts, founder of One World Lab in Denver, sent a tweet while he was a passenger on a United Airlines flight, suggesting he could hack into the airline’s onboard system to trigger the oxygen masks to drop.
When he landed in Syracuse, N.Y., FBI agents were waiting to question him and confiscate his electronic devices, according to a statement from Roberts’ attorneys.
United Airlines, too, was not amused and banned Roberts from flying on the carrier.
Roberts’ tweet came a day after the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report saying modern planes are increasingly connected to the Internet, opening the risk that hackers could access the aircraft’s avionics system. The GAO recommended more cooperation among federal agencies to study the threat.
United Airlines released a statement about Roberts, saying, “We are confident our flight control systems could not be accessed through techniques he described.”
Global Eagle Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based company that provides onboard Wi-Fi, entertainment and technology for 150 airlines worldwide, said it is not possible to hack into the airline’s avionics system through its Wi-Fi because the two systems do not share any wiring or routers.
Airline manufacturers Boeing Co. and Airbus both issued statements downplaying any hacking vulnerability.
Still, the FBI and the Transportation Security Administration posted a notice to the nation’s airlines, warning them to be on the lookout for any “suspicious activity involving travelers connecting unknown cables or wires to the [in-flight entertainment] system or unusual parts of the airplane seat.”
The FBI declined to elaborate, saying only that the agency “routinely provides information to private industry in order to help partner entities remain aware of observed or reported threats.”
Inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival a success with over 30,000 attendees
The first weekend of the inaugural Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival was a resounding success with over 30,000 attendees over the course of the two days. Held from April 17-18, and sponsored by the Bahamas telecommunications Corporation (BTC), the weekend featured two music events in Freeport, the Music Masters and Midnight rush, as well as two celebrations, the Junkanoo Carnival Beach Party and Da Grand Bahama Cultural Village. The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is a festive weeklong celebration where Bahamian and guests from around the world are immersed in all things Bahamian in an entertaining and interactive manner.
The Junkanoo Carnival truly brings Bahamian culture to a new level – linking this cultural phenomenon to the economy and diversifying the tourism product by enhancing the visitor experience. As an added bonus to The Bahamas, this festival has the capacity to catapult the culture industry into a year-round industry.
Events for the upcoming Junkanoo Carnival events in Nassau from May 7-9 include Da Nassau Cultural Village, JunkaMania, Music Master Midnight Rush and Road Fever. The Cultural Village, set on the grounds of historic Clifford Park and Arawak Cay, will be bringing the islands together, showcasing the unique offerings from each island including food, culture, arts and craft. The music festivals will feature live performances from top contemporary Bahamian artists, after-parties that last until 6:00 am, as well as a music competition where a winner will be crowned Master of the Bahamian Sound. Road Fever is the Bahamian masquerade street party that will close out the inaugural Junkanoo Carnival, and is not to be missed as it will be an epic collage of costumes, color, and culture on parade.
To acknowledge the success of the first half of the launch of Junkanoo Carnival, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Obediah Wilchcombe, said, “I join the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and colleague ministers in expressing our profound thanks to the Bahamian people for their leap of faith and unshakable belief in themselves and their ability to execute a world class show and perform on a world stage before a global audience. We look forward to a successful second half of Junkanoo in Nassau, where we hope to welcome even more visitors and help them have the time of their lives enjoying everything The Bahamas has to offer.”