Visitor spending projected to exceed $6 billion
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas has welcomed a record eight million visitors so far this year, with direct visitor spending likely to exceed $6 billion, according to Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper.
Commenting on yesterday’s achievement, Cooper, the Minister of Tourism, Aviation, and Investments, noted that The Bahamas is back and better than ever.
“I can report that, to date, The Bahamas has recorded a smashing eight million plus tourist arrivals. In 2019, a historic year for Bahamas tourism, total visitor arrivals amounted to 7.2 million. Last year, total tourist numbers matched the 2019 record year total and today, we are over eight million. I point out that we have still not counted November and the full month of December. We are not only back, we are better than ever. This is the first time in the history of our nation that we were able to grow our tourism numbers so rapidly.”
Cooper acknowledged the efforts of the staff at the Ministry of Tourism and tourism partners in the country’s success in attracting visitors.
“There are also the unsung actors who make this all happen. The personnel behind the scenes at our air and seaports. The immigration and customs officers who greet our visitors at the gateways to our country. The law enforcement officers who keep our country safe and the thousands of public servants and those in state-owned enterprises who see to it that the organs of the state continue to function. As we continue to say: tourism is everyone’s business,” said Cooper.
He noted that the country is on a trajectory to continue this upward trend in tourism well into 2024.
“For the first 10 consecutive months, January to October, total air and sea arrivals were higher when compared to the same months in 2022 and in 2019, which was then, our banner year of tourism. We have now moved the goalpost. Foreign air and sea arrivals in October increased by 45.7 percent compared to the same period in 2022 and surpassed 2019 levels by 32 percent,” Cooper stated.
He noted that the US remains the top-performing stopover market, with the Latin American market gaining momentum in its steady return to pre-pandemic stopover levels.
According to Cooper, foreign air arrivals for October year-to-date were up by 19.7 percent for the same period last year and surpassed 2019 levels.
“Cruise tourism is hitting greater and greater heights. Cruise arrivals were up 54.2 percent over 2022 levels and 43.2 percent over 2019 levels. We estimate that direct visitor spend in the Bahamian economy as a result of these arrivals will far exceed $6 billion,” said Cooper.
