The Central Bank has cited reduced occupancy and average room rates as the cause of the revenue contraction.
If any economic recovery in The Bahamas depends on the tourism industry, the nation may have to wait a little longer, as key tourism indicators are showing a 6.1 percent drop-off in hotel revenues on Nassau and Paradise Island for the first two months of 2011.
The news of the year-on-year revenue fall-off in the hotel sector comes at a time when many are hoping for positive signs that a strong economic recovery is underway after the recession the country fell into in 2007. At least for the vital hotel sector, there are good indications of a turnaround in the immediate future, according to Stuart Bowe, president of the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA).
The news of the decline in hotel revenues came from the Central Bank of The Bahamas’ Monthly Economic and Financial Developments (MEFD) report for February 2011. It was based on data gathered from a sample of hotels on New Providence and Paradise Island. The report cited reduced occupancy and average daily room rates as the underlying cause for the revenue contraction.
