TORONTO — A new ad campaign from the Bahamas Tourist Office puts the islands of the Bahamas front and centre with Canadian travellers, and the timing couldn’t be better in Toronto as the GTA gets an early taste of winter.

TTC subway riders can get an eyeful of the Bahamas with new ‘wrapped’ subway cars, plus radio and TV ads are making their debut across the country as well.

If the Bahamas Minister of Tourism, Obie Wilchcombe, has his way, promotional campaigns like this one will be a 12-month event. “I have a problem with seasonal advertising. People need to know about the Bahamas year-round.”

Wilchcombe was welcomed to Toronto by the Bahamas Tourist Office, up and running in this market for more than 40 years.

Long a favourite with Canadians, the Bahamas is embarking on a new phase of growth and development with projects like the mega-project Baha Mar, set to open later next year with more than 2,900 hotel rooms across five properties, from brands including Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Mondrian, Grand Hyatt and the latest addition, Melia Hotels. The Baha Mar Casino & Hotel will anchor the $3.5 billion development, located 12 minutes from Nassau’s newly expanded Lynden Pindling International Airport.

While Baha Mar is shaping up to be a dazzler, these days travellers to the Bahamas are seeking out lesser-visited islands as well, like Exuma and San Salvador.

And the biggest news for the Bahamas, at least out of Canada, is the new program from Sunwing offering packages to Grand Bahama Island from six Canadian gateways, scheduled for a January 2014 launch.

“We’ve never had this much lift into Grand Bahama Island out of Canada, ever,” said Paul Strachan, who heads up the Bahamas Tourist Office in Toronto.

Americans are travelling again, and the Canadians never really stopped. “We’re not going to allow the Bahamas to be left out of this resurgence,” said Minister Wilchcombe.