NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Visitor arrivals to The Bahamas surpassed 7.2 million at the end of September, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper announced in Parliament on Tuesday, noting that the country has matched its record 2019 performance and is on pace to welcome more than eight million visitors this year.
During his contribution to the debate on the Speech from the Throne resolution Cooper, the Exuma and Ragged Island MP who is the minister with responsibility for Tourism, Aviation, and Investments stated, “I am thrilled to announce that as of the end of September this year we surpassed 7.2 million tourist arrivals. That number might sound familiar because we received just over 7.2 million visitors in the entire 2019, which was a record.”
Cooper stated that for the remainder of the year, the country will be setting a new benchmark for tourism arrivals.
“In the first nine months of this year, we did what was done in all of 2019. There were 7,209,165 arrivals by air and sea from January through the end of September 2023. The breakdown is that 1,332,752 came by air and 5,876,413 came by sea as total arrivals are outpacing 2019 by 33 percent. Total foreign air and sea arrivals were higher in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September 2023 compared to the same months of 2022 and 2019. In September, year-to-date 2023, foreign air and sea arrivals increased by 50.4 percent compared to the same period of 2022,” said Cooper.
He further noted that cruise arrivals from the beginning of the year through September are up 60 percent over the corresponding period in 2022, and 45 percent ahead of 2019.
“Foreign air arrivals, which represent stopover visitors, are up 20 percent over the same period in 2022 and through September and are right at the total number of stopover visitors for 2019. Hotel occupancy is up over 2019, with average daily room rates and room revenue significantly ahead of that year. We also continue to see gains in the overall spending of tourists on shore. The destination’s biggest market for visitors remains the United States of America, representing 90 percent of overall visitor arrivals, followed by Canada and The United Kingdom/Europe. The Latin America market is increasing in its steady return to pre-pandemic stopover levels as is traffic from the rest of the Caribbean,” said Cooper.
Assessing visitor at visitor trends, from January through September, Cooper said that 64.6 percent of all stopover visitors came to The Bahamas primarily for vacation, 16 percent for weddings and honeymoons, 5.6 percent to play in casinos, and 3.5 percent for business.
What we are seeing is the effect of strategic planning and hotel and cruise operators’ continued confidence in the strength of The Bahamas’ brand.
Cooper suggested that the tourism boom is not merely Nassau-centric, noting that there has been steady growth in many of the family islands, with Cat Island and Exuma seeing growth in the 11 percent range, the Berry Islands seeing 36.4 percent growth, Eleuthera 44 percent and Abaco up 38 percent overall with air arrivals up 31.4 percent.
“And notwithstanding the prophets of gloom and doom, Grand Bahama is up 64 percent, leading growth in Air Arrivals with an increase of 43.6 percent. And Bimini, we are fighting for you. Bimini, you are up by 138 percent,” said Cooper.
He further stated that room rates are 60 percent higher than they were in 2019, yet occupancy rates are higher and room nights sold continue to increase.
Regarding developments in the hotel sector, Cooper revealed that the British Colonial Hotel will open on December 12th with 288 renovated rooms and 300 Bahamian employees.
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