NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Total room nights sold in the vacation rental market more than doubled in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Central Bank.
The bank noted that data provided by AirDNA indicated that total room nights sold more than doubled to 290,770 from 117,265 in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The data was included in the bank’s Quarterly Economic Review for the fourth quarter of 2021, which provides an examination of the performance of the domestic economy, as well as sectoral developments during the period October to December.
“The respective gains were robust for both hotel comparable and entire place listings,” the bank said.
“For hotel comparables, average occupancy levels firmed to 46.5 percent from 31.1 percent, while the average daily rate (ADR) appreciated by 13.2 percent to $177.18. Likewise, average occupancy levels for entire place listings moved higher to 49.3 percent from 30.8 percent, as the ADR rose by 12.9 percent to $487.35.”
It continued: “Preliminary data provided by the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) indicated that total departures—net of domestic passengers—rebounded to 236,217 after an 89.6 percent contraction to just 35,611 in 2020, attributed to the full reopening of international borders. In particular, U.S. departures—which accounted for 86.1 percent of all departures—amounted to 203,481, recovering from a 90.6 percent reduction to 27,438 a year earlier. Similarly, non-U.S. international departures increased to 32,736, following an 84.1 percent falloff to 8,173 departures in the previous year.”
The report also highlighted the impact of inflation noting that consumer price inflation—as measured by changes in the average Retail Price Index (RPI) for The Bahamas—rose to 2.3 percent during the twelve months to October, from 0.2 percent in the same 2020 period.
“Underlying this development, after posting respective decreases in the previous year, average prices for clothing and footwear increased by 16.8 percent; for transport, by 4.4 percent and for housing, water, gas, electricity & other fuels—the most heavily weighted component—by 3 percent,” the Central Bank noted.
It also noted that the average price of gasoline rose by 4.2 percent to $4.77 per gallon over the three-month period and surged by 18.8 percent in comparison to the same period of 2020.
“Similarly, diesel costs moved higher by 1.7 percent to $5.23 per gallon and on an annual basis, the average price increased sharply by 50.4 percent,” the bank said.
“However, underpinned by the hedging arrangements, the Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) fuel charge held steady at 10.50 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) over the three-month period and year-over-year.”
