The Central Bank’s Quarterly Economic Review, released yesterday, said the number of persons who came to the country on cruise ships increased moderately during this period, but stopovers declined.
Industry officials, meanwhile, say they expect stronger figures this winter season.
Anticipated improvements in the U.S. economy are expected to improve leisure spending among households.
It is something that officials like Hotel Association President Jeremy MacVean would undoubtedly welcome. Mr. MacVean has said that this past September was the worst September hoteliers have experienced in more than 25 years.
“The past year has been an uneven one for us in tourism and we will end the year without realising the hopes we had when it begun,” Mr. MacVean said in a yuletide message released recently. “The turmoil and instability that have unsettled the economies of so many places in the world have also affected us indirectly. However, we can still be grateful that we have never been directly affected and that our country remains a safe haven.”
In an interview with the Bahama Journal Tuesday, he said the recent capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should boost the confidence of Americans in their economy, resulting in a positive impact on the Bahamian tourist product.
“Hopefully with the recent capture of Saddam Hussein, maybe we can look forward to the year 2004 with more optimism,” he said. “Hopefully a little bit of the fear has gone out of the world. Also, we’re hoping worldwide the various economies that are particularly important to us – in the U.S., Canada and Europe – if they continue to strengthen, that should be good for The Bahamas.”
Even though tourism business improved during the third quarter, the improvement was slower than the same period in 2002, with 340,000 air visitors coming to the country.
The falloff in cruise arrivals was much more dramatic with growth during this period being 2.3 percent, when compared to the 18.2 percent boost last year. In the third quarter of 2003, 720,000 visitors came on cruise ships.
As far a New Providence was concerned, there was a slight increase in visitor traffic to the island, this growth being 1.8 percent.
The news on cruise travel to the Family Islands was generally better, with cruise arrivals increasing by 8 percent over the past year.
During the quarter, hotels experienced a 4.4 percent reduction in income. Industry-wide, hoteliers actually got a little more per night for their rooms – $146.64 on average. But occupied room nights decreased by 6 percent with the average occupancy falling to 57.5 percent from 63.7 percent during the same period the year before.
There was also reduced spending by tourists during this period.
By Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
