TOURISM TO FAMILY ISLANDS ALSO STRENGTHENED
NASSAU, Bahamas — The start of the summer saw an 11 percent month-over-month increase in the number of visitors to The Bahamas, maintaining the momentum built since the start of the year and pushing total arrivals for the year to just below three million, The Nassau Guardian reported on August 30 in an article written by Paige McCartney.
The most recent data from the Ministry of Tourism showed that there were 562,485 visitors in June, and of that amount 421,225 were cruise visitors and 113,189 were stopover visitors that arrived by air.
“A breakdown by major port of entry revealed that total arrivals to New Providence more than tripled to 265,252 visitors in June, from 83,314 in the corresponding period of 2021. Underlying this outturn, the air and sea segments both rose to 109,336 and 155,916 visitors, respectively,” the Central Bank of The Bahamas revealed in its most recent Monthly Economic and Financial Development (MEFD) report for the month of July.
“Likewise, traffic to the Family Islands strengthened to 261,812 from 44,543 a year earlier, as respective air and sea passengers measured 29,040 and 232,772. Further, foreign arrivals to Grand Bahama increased to 35,421 from 7,235 in the previous year, owing to gains in the air and sea components to 2,884 and 32,537, respectively.”
Tourism officials have touted a bullish return in numbers.
Just last week, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper predicted the country would receive more than five million cruise arrivals this year based on current trends.
Up to June, tourism officials said total arrivals rebounded to 2,998,419 compared to 413,653 at the same point in 2021.
“Underlying this outcome, air arrivals rose to 734,976 passengers, extending the 2.2 percent gain in the preceding year, supported by growth in all major source markets,” the Central Bank report read. See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/tourism-numbers-rebound-to-2-9-million-up-to-june/
