NASSAU — It took just three quarters in 2023 for The Bahamas to surpass its total number of arrivals for all of 2019.

The destination has reported more than 7.2 million visitors in the first three quarters of 2023, equalling in nine months the total number of arrivals in 2019, putting it squarely on target to welcome more than 8 million visitors by year’s end.

According to The Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation, arrivals by air and sea from January through the end of September 2023 totalled 7,209,165. Of this record number of visitors, 1,332,752 came by air while 5,876,413 arrived by sea, with total arrivals outpacing 2019 by 33%.

“The overall goal of our efforts in tourism is to continually increase visitor arrival numbers to our destination, year after year,” said Chester Cooper, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation. “Our tourism performance in 2023 has been spectacular on two fronts. We have surpassed the tourism benchmark year of 2019 across all metrics, and our visitor arrival numbers are a resounding indication of a complete post-pandemic rebound.”

Cruise arrivals from the beginning of the year through September are up 61% over the corresponding period in 2022, and 45% ahead of 2019. Foreign air arrivals, which include stopovers and day visitors, are up 21% over the same period in 2022 and stopover visitors through September, are just shy of the total number of stopover visitors for the same period of 2019.

Hotel occupancy is up over 2019, with average daily room rates and room revenue significantly ahead of that year. The Bahamas also continues to see gains in the overall spend of visitors onshore.

Attributing these numbers to strategic planning and hotels and cruise lines’ continued confidence in The Bahamas brand, Deputy Prime Minister Cooper added” We are now certain to have a record year for tourism arrivals, and it’s no fluke. We have some of the most attractive cruise destinations in the region, with the new Port of Nassau making waves on social media and throughout the travel sector. Nassau, Bimini, the Berry Islands, Half Moon Cay and other destinations have seen remarkable growth in cruise arrivals in the past two years, with more visitors coming off the ships and spending more time onshore. This activity is being felt throughout the economy.”

He added that the metrics are also changing with stopover visitors: “We see that room rates are nearly 60% higher than they were in 2019, yet occupancy rates are higher and room nights sold continues to increase. This not only translates to higher revenue for all tourism stakeholders, but also speaks to the extraordinary demand that exists for our product. Importantly, we are seeing a healthy hold in repeat visitors from our main source markets, while witnessing major increases in new arrivals who are spreading the message about The Bahamas.”

Cooper said the dedication of tourism stakeholders to providing new experiences and stellar service has not only helped The Bahamas recover to pre-pandemic levels, but is also pushing the destination towards gaining more market share in the region.

“What we know is that with the projects underway in many of our islands and, the next few years of redevelopment of airport infrastructure across our islands, we will continue to grow our arrival numbers, barring any acts of God or global shocks,” he said.

“This is the strongest tourism has ever been, and we only expect our performance to get stronger.”