Expedia Bahamas bookings jump due to Baha Mar and hurricanes

Expedia Bahamas bookings jump due to Baha Mar and hurricanes

There’s been a 40 per cent jump in flight bookings to The Bahamas over the last year, according to records of the popular global traveling company and website, Expedia.

“Last year we saw merely a five per cent growth percentage in bookings. This year we are at over 40 per cent in growth,” according to Expedia Senior Business Development Manager Betty Estrada.

Estrada told Eyewitness News that  the company is “very proud of those numbers”.

“There’s been a couple of reasons for that. One, when Baha Mar came onto the market with their extended room night inventory – that’s been a contributing factor,” she said.

“Then we’ve also seen an increase in bookings, post hurricane, due to displacement.”

Estrada also pointed to the turn around of many travelers following hurricane Irma last year.

She said travelers rebooked to come to The Bahamas after the category five storm left major damage in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Florida and others.

While Estrada noted she could not speak on the specific ranking of The Bahamas as it relates to other major tourists destinations, she acknowledged that The Bahamas ranks high alongside other countries including Jamaica, Cancun, Aruba, Turks and Caicos, Bermuda and St.Lucia

“The Bahamas is a very popular product on our site,” she emphasized. “There’s a lot of repeat travel.”

Expedia group is a global traveling company. Its website caters to travel fare aggregators and travel meta search engines.