Full Report: 2011 First Quarter Tourism Stats
After three years of first quarter declines, 2011 has started off with visitor arrivals increasing by 5.7% for the first three months of the year, according to statistics released by the Bermuda Government. A total of 31,779 visitors arrived on Bermuda’s shores during this period, an increase from the 30,078 visitors to the island in the first quarter of 2010.
The number of air arrivals in the first quarter totaled 30,824, representing an increase of nearly 7% from the 28,865 visitors in the first quarter of 2010. Visitation from the Canadian region increased its market share by six percentage points to represent 21% of all visitor arrivals to the island. This rise is as a result of a 50% increase in air arrivals due to additional airlift supplied by WestJet.
Visitation share from the United States, United Kingdom and Rest of the World markets all showed declines of 3%, 2% and 1% landing them with 64%, 10% and 3% share of total visitors respectively, with Europe remaining constant at a 2% share of all visitors to the island.
The average number of night’s visitors stayed on the island decreased in the first quarter of 2011 from 6.63 nights to 6.23 nights. Average stay in commercial hotels and properties also declined slightly to 4.96 nights
The full 13-page document is below, click ‘Full Screen’ for greater clarity:
Certainly small steps in the right direction, but could the PLP Government please note that the correct words are “business” not “buisness” and “relative” not “realative”, unless Government information is not subject to normal spellings.
I spent 3 minutes looking at it and found the following additional errors, all on the first page:
- Paragraph 1. The word ‘Bermudas’ should be ‘Bermuda’s’.
- paragraph 3. First line. The word ‘night’s’ should be ‘nights’.
- Paragraph 4. On the second line the word ‘where’ should be ‘were’.
And on the 5th line ‘Tourisms’ should be ‘Tourism’s’.
- Paragraph 6. First line, the words ‘where were’ make no sense at all. I think they meant to say ‘were’.
And where it says ‘..this compare to 228 yachtsmen..’, it should say: ‘this compares to 228 yachtsmen’.
Six errors. Basic ones. On page one of a 13-page document.
So let me ask this. If they can’t get a few simple paragraphs written without multiple basic 4th-grade errors, how can we possibly believe the numbers?
Also, can we be assured that the incompetent buffoon who wrote this will not be allowed to do it again next quarter?
Do you think the PLP had something to do with a mis-spelled word..You people always look for a way to down talk the PLP even when the article is positive..
Jason, there are 8 mistakes on one page in a document that was produced by the government to report on a vitally important industry.
Why do you think the PLP had anything to do with it? It’s the civil service that produces government reports, not political parties.
It is unacceptable for an official government report to go out like this. It reads like it was written by a 6 year old. Presumably this is good enough for you and anyone else who thinks mediocrity is good enough. You’re prepared to defend the PLP government no matter how pathetic and incompetent they are. Don’t you care about whether the government issues important reports correctly?
How can we have any confidence in the numbers in the report?
You are actually entertaining these morons Jason? The numbers are down they moan, when they go up they moan… Leave Um be, they are just a bunch of bitter souls.
This from those that supported the PLP giving no bid contract to G.H. with little to no results and now that the PLP are finally advertising where the opposition was telling them where the business is funny infact that made me…………….
LOL
No they arent..the dept of tourism has always marketed in our key feeder markets…the economy is in recovery hence the increase…
Oh really guess you weren’t around in the Brown years to see where, how and who the G.H. was advertising Bermuda too. Maybe you should find out first before we start this convo.
LOL
Jason, you really are funny. “The economy is in recovery”? Another achievement from the plp, right? By the way, there is a headline today that retail sales fell (another) 5.8% in February. Is this an example of the ‘recovering economy’? Please enlighten us.
Let me guess – it’s all the UBP’s fault?
Recovery……………..rich lololol is that why the ferries and buses aren’t running as one of the reasons is that Government can’t pay. Jason’s veins run on PLP kool aid anyway we all know how much he love foreigners and the white man. Its all their fault right Jason………………….
LOL
mixitup, unfortunately we all have to entertain the morons who wrote the report.
Definitely moving in the right direction. Hopefully the rest of the year will increase in the same proportion. This will bode well and provide some injection into our economy, and also into the hotels and properties that desperately need it. I believe that Minister Minors is on the right track.
The added exposure to be gained from House Hunters International will likely assist us as well.
On what track? She hasn’t done a thing. Also comparing increases to previous significant lows is a tad misleading.. Keep in mind that those figures don’t mention deeply discounted hotel rates and it is the average daily rate that real hoteliers look at..You are going out of business if you simply look at numbers and not profits
A move in the right direction they finally started listening to the opposition.
LOL
At this point these figures mean very little accept positive spin. There is nothing the Bermuda Tourism department has actively done in the last couple of months to significantly impact tourism arrivals. Most likely there were events and conferences that brought these additional people here. WE seriously need to start modernizing our overall tourism product. We need younger people in tourism and we need the government to provide incentives for the younger more dynamic individuals of this Island to get involved.
there was a plane that had a mechanical issue and had to land?
LOL! Maybe just maybe!
They have increased makerting efforts…they have been on the road dealing directly with travel agents..there is now a social media strategy….and the economy is recovering..BDOT is the reason for the increase…
how u think those conference groups got interested in Bermuda..the sales team…how do you think people here about bermuda…the Marketing and media planning of BDOT…give credit where credit is due sir.
Jason,
You know a real lot about BDOT. Internal things that only an insider would know about. Are you employed there?
Where in the World is Jason? He has suddenly gone missing. Hopefully he is off on some BDOT junket to entice more Tourists to Bermuda. Thank goodness the PLP Government has listened to people who for years have been telling them to “fish where the fish” are. Where does the largest increase in Q1 2011 come from? India, China, South America – all those places Ewart Brown/Global Hue were promoting (for themselves)? No, it’s Canada!! Way to go!
I want to point out something in these numbers: “while air arrivals were up, stays in hotels were down.” So what does this say to us? This says that these “tourists” aren’t truly “tourists” coming here out of the blue. They are family members of people living here that come to visit them and stay at their homes and eat at their homes – not at hotels and not at our restaurants. Certainly they will eat out a night or two while they are here.
My point is that if we don’t start treating International Business and the Ex-Pats with a little more respect and clean up our crime ridden island, they will leave and take their visiting family member “tourists” with them.
I wish there was a way the Govt could differentiate between this type of tourist and a “true tourist.” Can we not separate these numbers to get a truer picture? And what about business travelers – are they considered “tourists” or is there a box they can check for “on business” without getting interrogated? I know if I was a business traveler here, I would check the box that said “tourist” just to avoid the grumpy, rude, poor treatment that I’d get at customs and immigration.
have you not heard the current Premier state more than once that her administration will be treating intl business with more red carpet, less red tape?
i would think that you would have to then realize that after being in the Premier-ship for only 5 months, that of course it will take time for this to have a massive effect.
But rather than focusing on negative, let’s be positive and recognize the upward trend and hope that it continues, rather than trying to demonize every release put out by this government.
Not demonization, these sorts of responses are bred from mistrust. How can you trust anything the government says when recently all they have done is gloss over failures? Look at the reality of the situation, do you honestly believe that something has occurred recently to boost tourism figures? Bermudians must wake up an not continue to act like sheep who are fed whatever they are told. Ask why and why not? of your government, that is how democracy works for the people. For so long now Bermuda has allowed it to work for the Government not for themselves. Hence why Ewart Brown is a wealthy man and nowhere to be seen!
Ok fine…so u may mistrust the government, so does that mean they shouldnt put out any releases or statements becuase some people will not believe anything? do you really have energy to question every single thing?
the positive here is that the numbers are up and have bucked the recent trend. let’s remain positive and hope this continues for the year. would that really be such a bad thing?
OMG – you are missing the point! The point we are all trying to convey to you is that these numbers are not accurate! The collection method of these numbers is flawed. That is an inarguable FACT. They might as well have reported that arrivals are up 100% as that would be just as inaccurate. That is the point we are making. The numbers are spun and not calculated correctly so reporting on it is ludicrous and a complete waste of time. End of story.
You must have the energy to question every single thing when the economy is failing. You must question your government when they are not performing and there is nothing on the table that says it is making strong steps to improve. I agree positive thinking is good, but it does not improve the tourism product and it does not improve the economy by fooling yourself into thinking everything is ok when it is not? Actions speak louder than words. We need strong leadership, intelligent people in power. Not those that seek to pull the wool over your eyes, take their respective paychecks and ride off into the sunset when the Sh#t hits the fan (Ewart) .
Ewwart Brown is a wealthy man because he has been a Doctor for decades..I can only smh at some peoples comments..This is why Gov’t leaders dont read the non-sense most of you fools say.
Jason, I have a bridge to sell you.
To Jason: Nottt.. Prior to becoming the Premier his business owed the govt 48k in unpaid taxes and was named and shamed…
And this is why people are losing jobs daily , the bus service does not work. The country is in massive debt, because simpletons like yourself and the government take reasonable and rational discussion as nonsense. Ewart Brown wasted money. Now the government does not have enough to pay its own workers properly. It is so blatantly obvious only a fool would choose to ignore it. Sheep in the form of fools will lead to this Island’s demise.
Jason….please wake up. To help you out a bit, I am black, male, voted PLP, poor and struggling…..but I still the wrong that has been done to this island by Ewart. He came in with a plan in 2003, executed that plan then left us to fend for ourselves. He choked off the city and St. Geo to get at the corporations and in the process we began to lose our jobs but we did not see it because the race card was in our way. I have woken up and realized that we have been had…Have you?
I want tourism back and we have to find a way to get people back to Bermuda but in the mean time we have to clean up the mess Ewart left us behind.
The govt ministers never read nor listen to what the people have to say, that’s why we are in the crap we are in now.
Well I hope for your sake you are also wealthy as a result of the 12 years of PLP Government/Dr Brown. If you are then great, you must be a friend or family of Dr Brown and you also have wealth in Bermuda and other countries, yachts, the good life and fast cars. If not you were used and discarded by Dr. Brown, along with many others.
I’m not being negative at all. I am merely stating the fact that these numbers do not represent the reality of the situation. These numbers are counting people as tourists when in fact they are not really tourists. Yes, I have “heard” her speeches about her feelings for International Business – I hope she carries through with this and spreads her positive attitude to all of us. But what about the more pressing issue of the hostile chunk of rock we all live on? What has this govt done to make not only IB families feel safe, but all of us? Oh wait, there hasn’t been a murder in say….36 hours or so? I can hear IB suitcases being filled as often as I hear gun shots and sirens.
You can’t really be blaming the govt for the murders can you? the government has expressed its commitment to playing its part and doing what it can, but if we are being honest, we must concede that the major player in this whole public safety situation is that socially we have abdicated responsbilities. parents have abdicated their responsibilities and we have kids raising themselves and finding perceived strength in their crews aka gangs. Yes of course the govt has a role to play, but I do not think they can be cited as not trying to make people feel safe.
When countries are not doing well economically civil commotion rises what’s been happening in Bermy is a result of economic pressure that the Government helped create along with the global recession. If the politicians of this island had a real plan for the future of the island and not them selves we would not been in the position we find our selves in now face it PLP supporters you and the rest of Bermuda has been had by the Government. Will you now help us with the mess or will you continue sitting back and let mind and you children suffer for your pride?
LOL
If we were crime free would the government of today not praise themselves and say it was because of good policy and good government!? Well then in some respects yes they are responsible. Not responsible for pulling the trigger I agree but responsible to unwillingly contributing through neglegence, ignorance, or maybe…just maybe simply not caring.
For example the PLP HEADQUARTERS at Alaska Hall is smack in the middle of much of the trouble today. If you have driven along Court Street and past Alaska Hall in the last 10 years (day or night) you would have to be legally blind and have no sense of smell not to see the drug dealers or smell the weed that is smoked within 100′ of where our government members park their cards, meet to discuss the issues of the country, and at times celebrate. I was always told….IF YOU IGNORE WRONG WHEN YOU SEE IT….YOU SUPPORT IT!
I see Chinese fishing vessels approaching as we speak. Or is it a Republican Rep for the 51st State………Hey Yah all…Governor Ewart Brown…..gotta love it…..
Please..Dept. of Tourism, do not bore me with 1000 0r 2000 more visitors. That is just one cruise ship coming in earlier in the year rather than later. When we hit over 10,000 more visitors each quarter then we can bring out the confetti and the noise makers.
Was I included in your stats? I ticked visitor when I came to Bermuda for a short visit. I’m Bermudian and I stayed with my family.
The increase was in Air arrivals..which is a significant accomplishment.
Bermuda is another world, the island visitors are coming!!!!The economy is getting better and people are traveling.