Direct Air Service from Brazil to Barbados to Begin Later this Year

Barbados will soon have a direct non-stop flight from South America. Starting Summer 2010, GOL, the second largest airline in Brazil, will operate a Boeing 737 from Sao Paulo to Bridgetown once a week on Saturdays, with same-plane connections to Buenos Aires, Argentina and connections to Rio de Janeiro at no additional cost.

This will be the second scheduled service from Sao Paulo in Barbados’ history. In the mid-nineties, BWIA operated a flight from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago through Barbados to Sao Paulo.

The new service was born out of meetings which the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), aided by Hon. Consul to Brazil, Jorge Nemr, held with GOL in Sao Paulo and in Barbados in August and September last year. Since then the parties have been in constant contact via e-mail and telephone. The flight will be promoted from March, 2010.

Brazil was chosen as a target market because it is an emerging market in a new global economy. It has great influence internationally in tourism and business. It has been out of the recession since the fourth quarter of 2009. Brazilians are very interested in travelling and although they speak Portuguese, they are reasonably comfortable dealing with a second language.

According to local tourism officials, Brazilians are looking for sea, sand and sun destinations but also a destination with a certain level of sophistication and the infrastructure to which they are accustomed. This is therefore a good fit for Barbados.