The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The tourism sector recording "healthy growth" with departures up 23.9 percent in November with the economy forecasted to maintain its growth trajectory for the remainder of the year, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The banking regulator, unveiling its monthly economic developments for November said that travel demands from "key source markets" have resulted in increased air and sea traffic further sustaining the country’s tourism rebound.

“The most recent data provided by the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) indicated that total departures in November—net of domestic passengers—rose by 11.3 percent to 0.12 million, relative to the same period last year”, the Central Bank said.

“Specifically, US departures expanded by 12.1 percent to 0.10 million, while non-U.S departures grew by 7.1 percent to 0.02 million, vis-à-vis the previous year.

“On a year-to-date basis, total outbound traffic advanced by 23.9 percent to approximately 1.5 million passengers. In particular, US departures increased by 24.1 percent to 1.3 million visitors, compared to the same period in 2022. Likewise, non-US departures rose by 22.7 percent to 0.2 million visitors, relative to the comparative period last year”

The Central Bank also revealed a decline in the short-term vacation rental market, with occupancy rates for both entire place and hotel comparable listings decreasing from November 2022 numbers.

It said: “As it relates to the short-term vacation rental market, the latest data provided by AirDNA showed that in November, total room nights sold declined to 118,203 from 119,105 in the corresponding 2022 period.

“Contributing to this outturn, the occupancy rates for both entire place and hotel comparable listings fell to 46.2 percent and 47.2 percent, respectively, vis-à-vis 50.3 percent and 48.3 percent in the prior year.

“Likewise, price indicators revealed that year-over-year, the average daily room rate (ADR) for entire place listings decreased by 4.3 percent to $527.87 and for hotel comparable listings, by 0.2 percent to $190.63.”