Total foreign arrivals to The Bahamas grew by nearly 22 percent in the third quarter, according to data from the Central Bank.
In its Quarterly Economic Review for September 2024, the regulator noted: “For the three months to September, information from the Ministry of Tourism revealed that total foreign arrivals grew by 21.6 percent to 2.6 million, exceeding the 2.2 million visitors in the same quarter of the previous year. Sea traffic expanded by 27.3 percent to 2.3 million arrivals, compared to the same period last year. In contrast, high-value-added air traffic decreased by 5.9 percent to 0.35 million passengers.”
A breakdown by major ports of entry revealed that tourist arrivals to New Providence increased by 27.1 percent to 1.2 million, driven by a 42.3 percent surge in sea traffic, despite a 5.8 percent decline in air passengers. In the Family Islands, visitor arrivals rose by 21.1 percent to 1.3 million, buoyed by a 23 percent increase in sea tourists, contrasting with an 8.2 percent drop the previous year. Conversely, Grand Bahama saw a 10.9 percent decline in arrivals to 0.13 million visitors, with a 12.3 percent fall in sea arrivals overshadowing a 7.7 percent gain in air traffic.
The short-term vacation rental market also showed mixed results. Data from AirDNA indicated an 8.8 percent increase in total room nights booked to 11,146, driven by a 9.5 percent rise in entire place listings to 7,460 and a 7.4 percent increase in hotel-comparable listings to 3,686. However, the average occupancy rate for entire place listings narrowed by 3.7 percentage points to 29.0 percent, with the average daily rate (ADR) declining by 5.1 percent to $588.54. Hotel-comparable listings saw a 2.0 percentage point decrease in occupancy to 34.0 percent, while the ADR fell by 9.2 percent to $157.17.
Data from the Nassau Airport Development Company Limited (NAD) showed that total third-quarter departures—excluding domestic passengers—remained steady at 0.4 million compared to the same period last year. U.S. departures were unchanged at 0.4 million, while international departures fell by 1.5 percent.
