Sands: 2025 Stopovers Could Be As Robust As In 2023

Immediate past president of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), Robert “Sandy” Sands, told Guardian Business yesterday that based on the booking pace for the first quarter of 2025, next year’s stopover visitor numbers could be as robust as in 2023, adding that the tally in 2024 is unlikely to reach the levels recorded in 2023.

Sands said weather systems that affected Florida – the country’s largest source market – and the US elections, were largely to blame for a fall-off in tourist numbers, given that 2024 started off strong. He explained that following the US elections, visitor numbers began to trend upward again.

“Well, I think in fairness, the year started off appearing to be strong,” said Sands.

“Then I think we seemed to hit a bump, I would say, in the last quarter. I would say principally the US elections created some tentativeness in travel. I would also say that weather-related conditions also had an impact. But I think post-US elections, we have begun to see a rebound.”

While the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation (MOTIA) has tracked visitor number increases into the last quarter of the year, Sands said he is convinced that final 2024 numbers will not trump 2023.

Statistics released by the MOTIA reveal that stopover numbers tapered off in October.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas, in its Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) report for November, revealed that visitor arrivals in October expanded thanks to the cruise sector, which grew by 25.2 percent year-on-year. Stopover numbers decreased by 9.4 percent when compared to the same period last year.

“I don’t think that we will be as strong or as successful in terms of results in 2024 as we were in 2023,” said Sands.

The stopover segment of the country’s tourism engine is the most important, because of the amount of money that is spent in the country per visitor, compared to cruise visitors.

Sands said the hotel sector is hoping that room rates can return to heights experienced in 2023, when Baha Mar’s transient room bookings were up six percent over 2022, and the resort complex’s group bookings were up 30 percent.

Sands said barring any geopolitical issues or other headwinds, 2025 “potentially can get us back to the levels of 2023″.

Chester Robards
The Nassau Guardian

Published December 30, 2024