Despite being devastated by Hurricane Dorian in its northern regions in September, and being written off – according to Bahamas tourism officials – by much of the world’s media, the Islands of the Bahamas finished 2019 with more than 7 million visitors, a record for the Caribbean nation.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment, particularly in light of the challenging year that we as a country just endured,” said Bahamas minister of tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar, who also praised all Bahamians for “showing the world the true meaning of resilience… in the face of tremendous tragedy borne to us by Hurricane Dorian” – the strongest storm and natural disaster to hit the Bahamas in recorded history.
Speaking at the recent CHTA Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Nassau, D’Aguilar reported that a number of records had been achieved:
• Stopover visitors: 1.78 million
• US stopovers: 1.45 million
• Total visitor arrivals: 7.216 million
The latter figure represented a 9 percent jump over 2018 – a figure that was trending towards 12 percent before the September hurricane, but which dropped in the fourth quarter due in part to the loss of devastated Abaco, which is the second busiest destination in the Bahamas.
“The Abacos is truly a sad story,” said Bahamas director general of tourism Joy Jibrilu, citing $4 billion in storm-related damage. “It’s a long road ahead. So much is needed. The government has to totally rebuild.”
A better story was the continuity of the cruise market after the storm, in part because ships were able to simply shift to other islands. As such, cruise numbers declined in September after the storm, but otherwise posted gains during every other month of the year.
Overall, 2019 growth in the Bahamas was “American driven,” though “quickly backed up by Canada,” according to D’Aguilar. The US makes up 82 percent of Bahamian visitors and Canada a distant 7 percent, though second overall. Before the hurricane, Canada had been posting a 10.5 percent gain in 2019 before Dorian, following a 14 percent increase in 2018.
And while the months after Dorian showed declines until December, D’Aguilar noted that “the impact of Hurricane Dorian has not slowed Bahamas tourism growth.”
The minister was quick to attribute the recovery to both “the hard work and dedication of Bahamians – and all levels of the tourism industry” as well as an “outpouring and assistance of friends, partners and even strangers from around the globe.”
However, he also praised his ministry for engaging in “data-driven agile marketing, authentic storytelling, and aggressive public relations, sales and airlift strategies” as well as being quick off the mark to spread the word internationally, including conducting a cross-country mission in Canada, that the islands – with the exception of Abaco – were still open for business.
“And we have remained diligently aggressive ever since,” he said, adding that the ministry is dedicated to continuing the momentum in 2020.
One tenet of that initiative is the newly released post-hurricane “Still Rockin’ – Calm After the Storm” marketing campaign, which amended last year’s hugely successful “Fly Away” campaign, featuring rock star and Bahamian resident Lenny Kravitz.
The multi-creative campaign still features Kravitz as brand ambassador, but with a new perspective.
“After Hurricane Dorian, it was not business as usual, and we had to go back and regroup,” said Jibrilu. “So, for this period, we wanted the world to know, we were battered, we were bruised, but we were not out.”
The campaign is playing out in billboards, on print ads and in a commercial similar to the original, but with Kravitz now proclaiming: “We do things differently. Our calm after the storm means shaking it off and rebuilding and never missing a beat… This is the Bahamas, and we’re still rockin’.”
“That’s Lenny, doing whatever he can to help the Bahamas through this period,” says Jibrilu.
The campaign will continue at least until summer.