NASSAU, Bahamas — Grand Bahama welcomed more than 60 percent of 2019’s record visitor arrivals up to November 2022, with numbers up almost 350 percent from 2021, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper said yesterday at the opening of the newly renovated domestic terminal at the Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA), The Nassau Guardian reported on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 in an article written by Paige McCartney.
Overall arrivals numbers for January through November 2022 increased by 347 percent to 326,272, compared to the 72,965 recorded in all of 2022, Cooper revealed.
He said Grand Bahama had 491,709 air and sea arrivals combined in 2019.
“What you should take from this is that even though overall numbers were trailing 2019 in 2022 – in part because we got a late start last year – we are catching up as evidenced by the fourth quarter performance and the significant increase in airlift, as well as what we are seeing already this year. In terms of air arrivals, in 2019, there were 49,815. In 2021, there were 17,448. In 2022, there were 30,076. We believe 2023 is going to be a great year. And here’s why. In 2019, our airlift capacity was 3,496. In 2021, that grew to 4,136. And in 2022, it grew even more to 6,288,” Cooper said.
“Overall, our international seat capacity for Grand Bahama increased by 80 percent in November 2022 versus November 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2019, we had 1,067 international air arrivals into Grand Bahama. In the fourth quarter of 2022 up to November alone, we had 3,707 international air arrivals into Grand Bahama – more than three times the amount of arrivals pre-pandemic. None of this is by accident.”
The renovations to the terminal cost $1.2 million and were completed by United Orca Construction Company.
The Ministry of Tourism has brokered increased direct flights into Grand Bahama over the past year. Cooper announced yesterday new projected airlift from Atlanta, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; and Milan, Italy.
See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/gb-tourism-up-nearly-350-percent-up-to-nov-2022/
