The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Stopover tourist visitors to The Bahamas increased by 7.4 percent over the first three quarters of 2018 with the Central Bank forecasting “continued economic strengthening” through year-end.

The regulator, unveiling October’s monthly economic developments report, said Baha Mar’s full opening and improved economic performance/confidence in key tourism source markets was fuelling expansion in The Bahamas’ largest industry.

Despite a firming in inflation to 1.75 percent for the year to August, due to a combination of VAT rate hike and spiking global oil prices that were felt in higher energy and gasoline prices, the Central Bank said external factors continued to maintain the economy’s momentum/

In particular, The Bahamas saw a 50.5 percent year-over-year growth in short-term vacation rental bookings via Airbnb compared to 2017, although average daily rates declined slightly.

“Tourism performance indicators suggest that the recent expansion in high-end room capacity in New Providence, coupled with sustained improvements in key source markets, contributed to the ongoing gains within the sector,” the Central Bank said.

“Preliminary data from the Ministry of Tourism for the first nine months of 2018 showed a 7.4 percent expansion in stopover visitor arrivals, compared to a 6.8 percent decrease in the same period of 2017. A breakdown by island revealed that the most significant gains occurred in New Providence, by 13.7 percent relative to a falloff of 4.3 percent in the prior year, reflecting in part increased visitor volumes following the completion of the phased opening of the Baha Mar development.

“Despite the ongoing challenges in room capacity after the closure of several hotels due to hurricane damage, stopover visitors to Grand Bahama firmed by 3.5 percent on a year-to-date basis, a reversal from the prior period’s 39.5 percent plunge. In contrast, visitors to the Family Islands - which firmed by 11.6 percent in 2017 - contracted by 6.9 percent.”

Breaking it down by market, the Central Bank added: “Visitors from the US, which comprised the bulk of arrivals (80 percent) - firmed by 7.1 percent to 980,464.

“In addition, the stopover markets of Canada (7.6 percent), Europe (7.4 percent) and Latin America (2.2 percent) increased by 11.2 percent to 92,597, 6.1 percent to 90,205, and 5.5 percent to 27,090, respectively, while the remainder increased by 10.1 percent to 35,374.”

This, the Central Bank added, was reflected in departure data compiled by the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), which showed a 19.1 percent increase in passenger traffic through Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) compared to a 16.1 percent expansion in 2017.

“In line with the increase in stopover activity, data from AirDNA revealed a 50.5 percent expansion in total bookings in the short-term rental market in October, relative to the same period of 2017,” the regulator said.

“An analysis of the major markets revealed that bookings in Grand Bahama firmed by 44.2 percent, amid gains in both the entire home and hotel comparable listings. Significant improvements in bookings were also noted for New Providence (42.6 percent), Exuma (40.7 percent) and Abaco (33.3 percent).

“During the period, the average daily room rates (ADRs) - which are generally more comparable across periods - declined by 2.3 percent and 3.4 percent to $284.20 and $128.86 per night for entire home and hotel comparable listings, respectively.”