The Bahamas recorded more than 5.89 million arrivals from January through the end of July, putting the country well on the way to closing out the year at 8 million-plus visitors, reports the country’s ministry of tourism. Canada ranked as the destination’s second largest market after the US, and ahead of the UK/Europe.
“The last seven months of 2022 were the strongest in our history, prior to 2023 (and) the first seven months of 2023 exceeded the expectations of tourism officials… We are experiencing explosive growth in tourism that can no longer be explained by pent up post-pandemic demand,” stated Minister of Tourism and Deputy Prime Minister I. Chester Cooper.
July year-to-date overall arrivals are pacing 59% ahead of 2022 and 30% ahead of 2019, the busiest year on record. Of the 5,893,118 total visitors who came to The Islands of The Bahamas in the first seven months of the year, 1,133,494 arrived by air and 4,759,624 by sea.
Comparing 2023 overall arrivals by month, March arrivals peaked at 951,311, making it the busiest arrivals month in Bahamas history. To contextualize the extent of the gains in the first seven months of 2023, during the entirety of 2022, 1,470,244 visitors arrive by air and another 5,530,462 by sea.
Importantly, notes the ministry, overall tourist spending is also up significantly. Major large New Providence hotels experienced increased occupancy and length of stay rates for 2023, eclipsing corresponding periods for 2019 and 2022. Average Daily Rate (ADR) is up an average of 59% compared to 2019 and Room Revenues are up 42% for the same period. More than 60% of visitors came to The Bahamas for the first time, with arrivals from every region showing an increase over the same period last year.
“The stronger than expected results speak to vibrancy of The Bahamas’ brand, methodical business strategies and the hard work of tourism industry professionals and stakeholders,” said Cooper. “We are seeing record arrivals, because we have all worked together to resuscitate our tourism industry, coming out of the pandemic, and, because we continue to improve our tourism product.”
Cruise
In the cruise business, The Port of Nassau welcomed the largest share of cruise arrivals, followed by The Berry Islands (Coco Cay), Bimini (Mainland and Ocean Cay), Half Moon Cay, Grand Bahama and Abaco (Castaway Cay), respectively.
Overall, cruise arrivals January through July, are up 72.1% over the corresponding period last year, and 43% ahead of the 2019 historic cruise arrivals figures.
Overall air stopover arrivals, representing “heads in beds”, surpassed same period 2022 numbers by 24%, and matched 2019 figures.
Trends
Looking at visitor trends, from January through July, 70% of all stopover visitors came to The Bahamas primarily for a vacation, 15% for weddings and honeymoons, 6% to play in casinos, 4% for business and 5% for “other/ undisclosed” reasons.
“With a better developed downtown to complement the new cruise port and added destinations within The Bahamas coming on stream, the numbers will only continue to grow, if we continue to deliver great service and experiences,” said Cooper, adding, “The plan for the redevelopment of Family Island airports will reap rewards for Bahamians well into the future.”