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CLEVELAND, OHIO —The Bahamas went looking for travelers in Ohio — or, more precisely, for the travel advisors who can influence where thousands of Americans take their next vacation.
Representing the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (BMOTIA), Cara Deveaux connected with more than 200 travel advisors during the KHM Travel Group Destination Success Trade Show and ASTA Ohio Chapter Travel Fest , putting The Bahamas and its 16 major island destinations directly in front of travel professionals serving an important U.S. regional market.
The message was straightforward: The Bahamas is close enough for an easy escape from the American Midwest, diverse enough to sell repeatedly, and ready to give travel advisors more tools and training to turn interest into bookings.
For Ohio and travelers in neighboring states, that proposition has particular appeal.
Why Ohio Matters to The Bahamas
Ohio sits at the center of a substantial Midwest and Great Lakes travel market, with Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati serving not only their own metropolitan populations but travelers within driving distance from neighboring Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.
For The Bahamas, cultivating travel advisors in this region is therefore about more than one state.
An advisor in Northeast Ohio, for example, may have clients across the Ohio-Pennsylvania border or families with relatives in Michigan. Southern Ohio overlaps naturally with Kentucky and Indiana travel markets.
That gives a tourism board an opportunity to reach consumers across a much wider geographic area through one concentrated travel-trade effort.
KHM Travel Group’s Destination Success is designed around precisely that relationship between suppliers and sellers. The annual event brings tourism and travel suppliers together with advisors for education, product knowledge and sales development.
Its 2026 event at Hotel Cleveland attracted 246 agents in person, another 171 participating virtually and 98 suppliers, according to KHM Travel Group.
For The Bahamas, being in that room meant being in front of professionals who can translate destination knowledge into actual vacations.
What Is Driving the Bahamas Proposition?
For many Midwestern travelers, especially during Ohio’s long gray winters, the emotional appeal requires little explanation.
Warm turquoise water, beaches, sunshine and outdoor dining provide an obvious contrast to freezing temperatures, snow and short winter days.
But selling The Bahamas simply as “sun and sand” misses much of the opportunity.
The country consists of hundreds of islands and cays, with 16 principal island destinations promoted to visitors, and the vacation experience can change substantially depending on which one a traveler chooses.
- Nassau and Paradise Island can deliver resorts, restaurants, nightlife, casinos, beaches and easy access to excursions.
- Grand Bahama offers another combination of beaches, nature and activities.
- The Out Islands can provide something considerably different: smaller communities, boating, fishing, diving, secluded beaches and a slower-paced Bahamian experience.
That diversity gives travel advisors something particularly valuable — the possibility of selling The Bahamas more than once to the same client.
A family vacation, romantic getaway, cruise visit, fishing trip, destination wedding or luxury island escape can all result in very different Bahamas itineraries.
From Cleveland to the Caribbean
Accessibility remains crucial.
As of summer 2026, Cleveland does not have scheduled nonstop service to Nassau, meaning travelers typically connect through major U.S. gateways. Available one-stop routings include connections through cities such as Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Baltimore-Washington, Washington, Detroit and other hubs.
That still puts a Caribbean vacation within practical reach of Ohio travelers.
For tourism officials, however, airlift is more than an operational issue. It is part of destination marketing. Every additional connection, convenient schedule or competitive fare makes the decision to exchange the Midwest for The Bahamas easier.
The Bahamas has been pursuing additional U.S. connectivity as part of its broader tourism strategy. New routes elsewhere in the United States can also strengthen the overall network of gateways feeding Nassau and other Bahamian destinations.
Americans Are Already Voting With Their Passports
The Bahamas enters the Ohio market engagement from a position of considerable tourism strength.
The country welcomed a record 12.5 million visitors in 2025, according to BMOTIA, an 11.4% increase over the previous year and more than 70% above 2019 levels. Those figures demonstrate something important for travel advisors: The Bahamas is not trying to create demand for an unknown Caribbean product.
The demand already exists. The challenge is converting more of that interest into higher-value stays, repeat visits and travel beyond the best-known gateways.
That is where advisors can make a difference.
A traveler searching online may know Nassau, Atlantis or simply “Bahamas.” A knowledgeable advisor can ask a different question:
Which Bahamas is right for you?
The expectations of today’s Caribbean traveler have also evolved.
Sunshine and a beautiful beach remain fundamental, but consumers increasingly expect their vacation to deliver experiences worthy of the time and money required to travel.
- They want convenience.
- They want value.
Families want activities that work across generations. Couples may want privacy and romance. Adventure travelers may want diving, boating or fishing. Food-focused visitors increasingly want authentic local flavors rather than meals that could be served at any resort anywhere in the world.
And almost everyone now returns home with a smartphone full of photographs and videos that become unofficial destination advertising. That means the experience must deliver.
For The Bahamas, the opportunity is to move the visitor’s perception from a generic tropical vacation to something distinctly Bahamian.
Think conch prepared by the water, Junkanoo rhythms, conversations with Bahamians, impossibly clear seas, swimming and boating experiences, island-hopping and beaches whose appearance can make even professionally edited travel photographs seem unnecessary.
“It’s Better in The Bahamas”
Few tourism slogans have achieved the longevity and instant recognition of “It’s Better in The Bahamas.”
But a slogan creates an obligation. If travelers arrive with high expectations, the destination has to meet — and preferably exceed — them. That is where the country’s diversity can become one of its greatest strengths.
- A first-time visitor may come expecting a beach vacation and discover a culture.
- A cruise passenger may return later for a longer stay.
- Someone who first experiences Nassau may come back to explore another island.
- A family may discover that the destination they chose for convenience becomes the place their children ask to visit again.
When that happens, tourism marketing has accomplished something far more valuable than generating a click or even securing an initial booking. It has created an emotional connection and the possibility of a repeat customer.
Why Travel Advisors Still Matter
In an era dominated by online booking engines and artificial intelligence, an event bringing hundreds of travel advisors together might appear surprisingly traditional. It isn’t.
The greater the volume of information available online, the more valuable knowledgeable human guidance can become for complicated or high-value trips.
The advisor who understands the differences among Bahamian islands can match the right traveler with the right experience.
That can reduce disappointment while increasing the chances that visitors return home enthusiastic about the destination.
For BMOTIA, training advisors therefore becomes part of destination management as much as destination marketing.
Deveaux’s discussions in Ohio highlighted The Bahamas’ 16 distinctive island destinations, airlift possibilities and upcoming training opportunities for travel professionals.
The objective is not merely to tell advisors that The Bahamas is beautiful. They already know that.
It is to give them enough knowledge and confidence to explain which island, which experience and which type of tripmakes sense for each client.
One Ohio Meeting Can Reach Far Beyond Ohio
There is also a multiplier effect when a tourism ministry engages the travel trade. One consumer presentation reaches the people in the room.
One well-trained travel advisor can potentially influence hundreds of trips over the life of a business.
And one advisor returning from an industry event enthusiastic about a destination can carry that enthusiasm into client conversations, social-media posts, newsletters, group bookings, destination weddings and repeat business. That helps explain why The Bahamas showing up in Ohio matters.
The destination is competing not only with other Caribbean islands, but with Mexico, Florida, cruises and virtually every warm-weather destination accessible to U.S. travelers.
Relationships matter in that competition. So does education.
From Ohio Snow to Bahamian Blue
For travelers in Ohio and neighboring states, the appeal ultimately becomes much simpler than tourism statistics or airline networks.
- When winter arrives and the temperature drops, The Bahamas offers an enticing alternative.
- When families need to reconnect, an island vacation provides the setting.
- When couples want an escape, turquoise water is a persuasive sales pitch.
- And when travelers have already visited once, 16 distinctive island destinations provide reasons to return and experience something different.
That is the opportunity BMOTIA brought to Cleveland.
The Ministry wasn’t simply promoting hotel rooms or beaches. It was strengthening relationships with the people who help Americans decide where to spend some of their most valuable days of the year — their vacation days.
More than 200 advisors left those interactions knowing a little more about the islands, their accessibility and the experiences waiting for their clients.
The next step happens at travel agencies and kitchen tables across Ohio and the surrounding Midwest, when someone asks the familiar question:
“Where should we go this year?”
For The Bahamas, the preferred answer is equally familiar.
It’s Better in The Bahamas.
A few factual points strengthen the trade-news angle: KHM describes Destination Success as its annual supplier-education event, and its 2026 Cleveland edition drew 246 in-person advisors, 171 virtual attendees and 98 suppliers. The Bahamas, meanwhile, reported record 2025 arrivals of 12.5 million, up 11.4% year over year.
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