The Bahamas is targeting a $400m increase in annual passenger spending after data revealed more than 40% spent less than $50 in Nassau pre-COVID, thereby seeking to increase expenditure to $100 per head.
According to the Ministry of Tourism in The Bahamas, data for 2019, the last full year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed that 43% of cruise passengers who disembarked in Nassau/Paradise Island spent less than $50 during their visit to the destination and 18 % spent less than $20 after leaving the ship. The data also revealed that average per capita spend by cruise passengers in 2019 was lower than it had been in 2013. While the decline appeared to have bottomed out in 2016, and was on an upward trend prior to COVID-19, the Tourism Ministry revealed:
“In 2013, the average expenditure of a cruise visitor in Nassau/Paradise Island was $98.66, compared to $82.34 in 2014; $79.92 in 2015; $73.08 in 2016; $78.53 in 2017; and $89.21 in 2018.” The data for The Bahamas is in stark contrast to St Maarten, with a passenger spend of approximately $200 per passenger, and the US Virgin Islands, which is in excess of $150-$170 per passenger.
