The first impression passengers have of a place is the airport. No way around it. If it’s bad, it can color the whole trip. No less than the prime minister of The Bahamas conceded recently that the image of Nassau’s airport has left a lot to be desired.

Hubert Ingraham said, “[It] ranked among the least efficient and least customer-friendly airports in our region.”

That’s bad for business considering the business of The Bahamas is tourism. Consider: Tourism generates a full 75 percent of the nation’s GDP.

The people who would have you spend your hard-won vacation dollars on their islands hope that a new U.S. Departures Terminal at Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport helps rehabilitate that image. The $198.1 million facility is a jewel, the first phase of an overall $409.5 million makeover of the airport.

Next in line is a new U.S./International Arrivals Terminal set to open in the fall of 2012, followed in the fall of 2013 by an International Departures Terminal, as well as a domestic arrivals and departures terminals. In all, officials contend the overall 585,000 square-foot project will comfortably handle 50 percent more passengers. It will also include 34 more gates – one of them capable of accommodating the gargantuan A380, should an airline ever want to fly one to Nassau.

For now it’s enough that the makeover has begun. The just-opened US Departures Terminal features an efficient check-in area, a food court, a Heineken® Lounge, a trio of al fresco dining areas, eight stores and kiosks, and some newsstands and bookstores.

Nassau’s new emphasis on the airport should pay off big come 2014. That’s when visitors the world over should begin to descend on The Bahamas’ yet-to-open 1,000-acre Baha Mar resort and convention complex.

Story by Jerry Chandler

(Image: heather0714)