The Tribune

NEARLY one million visitors arrived in The Bahamas in January, representing a 166 percent increase when compared to the same period last year, Tourism Minister Chester Cooper revealed in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Mr Cooper, who was contributing to the mid-year budget debate in Parliament, told parliamentarians that tourism was growing by leaps and bounds in The Bahamas, adding that his ministry was targeting a 20 percent growth in the sector this year.

“We have every reason to believe that we are going to meet and exceed that target,” added Mr Cooper, who also has responsibility for aviation and investments.

“Mr Deputy, as you know 2019 was a banner year in this country, with over 7.2m visitors to our shores and when we look at what is happening in 2023, we are shattering 2022 numbers and 2019 numbers and that’s great news.

“But what is even better news that I am able to reveal is that we saw nearly one million visitors come to The Bahamas in January, the first month of this year alone.”

To give context on the figures, Mr Cooper explained that last January, there were some 300,000 visitors that came to our shores, but said that number grew to 846,000 in January this year.

This represented a 166 percent increase from January 2022 compared to January 2023, he added.

In terms of sea arrivals, the minister highlighted increased arrivals in several islands, including New Providence, Grand Bahama, Exuma, Abaco, Andros, and Cat Island among others.

The deputy prime minister said when compared to 2019, which was already considered a record-breaking year for tourism, sea arrivals in January 2023 were up by 33 percent.

“In January,” he added, “Grand Bahama saw a 400 percent rise in sea arrivals compared to the year before and I point that out to say the potential for Grand Bahama is there and the momentum is growing.

“We will also see a great deal more traffic when the Carnival cruise port is completed in 2024. My Deputy, If I had an hour, I would tell you more about Grand Bahama, but I’ll invite the public to tune into the Grand Bahama Business Outlook next week when we’ll talk more about the Grand Bahama International Airport and Grand Lucayan resort and the growth of Grand Bahama tourism.”

But, Mr Cooper said that he alone could not take credit for the country’s improving tourism numbers and thanked his team for their hard work.

Shifting to departure tax collections, Mr Cooper said collections for the first six months of the fiscal year totaled $71.5m which, he said, represented an 85 per cent improvement over the year before.

“In the first half of the year, we collected 73.7 percent of the budget target for departure taxes and, as I told a recent forum, more visitors mean more tax income and more economic activity and more opportunities and jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for Bahamians.

“It means keeping on track with our fiscal plans to ultimately end deficit spending.”

Mr Cooper said the Davis administration had a strategy to take the nation’s leading industry to the next level and added “we are executing it.”

He said they had a similar strategy to attract more investments to the country and also for aviation.

With respect to aviation, he said the government has already put out requests for proposals for the development of some 14 Family Island airports.

These include the New Bight International Airport in Cat Island, Exuma International Airport, Leonard M Thompson International Airport in Abaco, North Eleuthera International Airport, Long Island International Airport, Congo Town airport in South Andros and San Salvador International Airport.

Following completion of these projects at the airports, the minister said the nation’s family of islands will be poised for even further economic growth.

“We’ve been working, Mr Deputy. “We’re strategising and we’re executing the strategy,” Mr Cooper continued.