Miami flight helping business, tourism ? BIBA
The Miami air-link is good for business as well as tourism according to the head of the Bermuda International Business Association who credits the direct flight for finally attracting a Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners conference to Bermuda.
BIBA is the presenting sponsor for the eighth annual STEP Caribbean Conference to be held from April 10 ? 12 at the Fairmont Southampton Princess, which BIBA CEO, Deborah Middleton said her organisation has been trying to attract for several years.
Until now, they have been denied because of the difficulty Caribbean delegates faced in travelling here.
?With the advent of the Miami air route, Bermuda has become a much more viable option in terms of ease of travel and cost to get here,? Ms Middleton said. We are pleased to finally have the opportunity to host this event and hope that it will prove a rewarding and enjoyable experience for the delegates.?
A record 300 international professionals in the trust and private client practice area primarily from Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Latin American are expected to attend the conference which will be chaired by Bermudian Pearline Trott of Appleby Spurling Hunter.
Ms Middleton expects the STEP conference will be the start of new opportunities for the business sector due to the Miami link. As a result of Bermuda?s new accessibility she expects to see more conferences from that part of the world as well as more business from Latin America.
?It helps enormously having that route open,? she said adding that since Miami is a hub for a lot of business with Central and South America, the route will help insurance companies and other businesses doing work in Latin America.
With economies such as Brazil?s doing well, she expects the route will make Bermuda more accessible to high net-worth individuals interested in investing in financial services.
?It opens a whole new geographic area for us as far as business is concerned and tourism. We?ll certainly see more travel to and from and more business coming in from those areas,? she said.
