NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Local water-based excursion operators say they have seen an uptick in business over the past several weeks, noting that it has been a “huge improvement” compared to last year albeit still well below their pre-pandemic performance.
Adoni Lisgaris, president of the Bahamas Excursion Operators Association (BEOA), told Eyewitness News: “We saw an uptick in March. It is still carrying over although it slowed down a bit. Usually in March there is an uptick with Spring Break and Easter and so that stretch was good for most of our members.”
He added: “From what I’ve been told, there are some of our members that do group excursions and have faced some difficulties because the hotels aren’t permitting tour agents on property at the moment and so they are finding it difficult to sell their tours.
“There are folks who sell private charters and seem to be getting better business. All in all, there has definitely been a huge improvement compared to last year.
“The rest of April looks pretty good, not as good as March but obviously and compared to April 2019, it would still be off.”
Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar recently revealed that 60,000 non-residents bought travel health visas to visit the country in March, which was double the number that did so in December 2020.
While the figure represents just over a 90 percent decline when compared to 2019 pre-pandemic numbers for the same period, D’Aguilar said it represents an uptick for the industry that has been hit hard by the effects of the pandemic.
The Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) noted earlier this month that March 2021 has been the most successful month for passenger arrivals since the COVID-19 pandemic commenced.
