Tourism Minister: October Air Arrivals Up 5.3%

November 2, 2012

The Minister of Business Development and Tourism, Wayne Furbert said that preliminary results of air arrivals as of October 25, 2012 show that 17,472 passengers visited the island, up 5.3%.

A Tourism Ministry spokesperson said: “Minister Furbert believes that we are seeing an increase because the Government National Tourism Plan is working and that the new ‘So Much More’ brand push was paying dividends. This evidence supports the feedback from some hoteliers that they had a good October, and that hotel projections, compared to last year, are up.

“The Minister however believes that when the remaining figures come in for October, they will show that the recent Hurricane Sandy will have had a negative impact on the final October numbers. The Ministry is paying very close attention to the recovery efforts currently being waged in the New York and Boston area and that the Department team is working on plans to minimize the potential fallout of business from Bermuda’s largest market.”

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  1. navin johnson says:

    The headline should read ” air arrivals for the first 25 days of October are up”….that’s because there were no air arrivals the last 4 days of October from the northeast US……

  2. Chart says:

    Misleading headline. October arrivals will not be up 5.3% once the final 6 days of the month are calculated in. He’s manipulating stats to his advantage.

  3. Victor says:

    Desperation time, releasing some promising trend so prematurely? Surely at least six months if not an entire season is needed to see if a campaign is working?

  4. Y-Gurl says:

    Garbage! where does this muppet get her information? and yes Sandy will devastate the October numbers…duh!

  5. Zombie Apocalypse says:

    But aren’t all the new tourists from India, Germany, China and the Middle East making up for the New Yorkers who can’t come?

  6. Inquiring Mind says:

    During the first weekend in October approx. 650 people flew in for an event held at South P..had nothing to do with the new tourism plan but nice try!

    • Mad Dawg says:

      And then there were the 40 people that came for Corporate Games. Which, again, were nothing to do with the tourism plan at all. That event was initiated privately over a year ago.

  7. the word says:

    spin spin spin again

    • Triangle Drifter says:

      Have to wonder how stupid they think the public really is?

  8. One Love says:

    This is misleading. Arrivals are up 5.3%….from what? October 2011 numbers? The previous month’s numbers? And is there really a correlation between the supposed increase and tourism’s new ad campaign? Can it be proved? Give us some straight talk please.

  9. Pastor Syl Hayward says:

    If you read the article, you’ll note that he has already hedged his bets.

    “The Minister however believes that when the remaining figures come in for October, they will show that the recent Hurricane Sandy will have had a negative impact on the final October numbers.”

    So when October final figures are in, no matter how low they are, Sandy will present an opportune excuse.

  10. Cant have it both ways says:

    Just last month Bernews reported the following stats. Nothing to celebrate. If you take credit for sales going up, you must accept responsibily for the falling numbers too. Good thingthe PLP got a UBP guy to get one thing right.

    “Arrivals from the United States, Bermuda’s largest tourist market, decreased 7.8 per cent when compared to the second quarter of 2011. A total of 56,447 U.S. visitors travelled to the Island compared with 61,232 visitors in the same period of 2011. Fewer air arrivals were recorded from the United Kingdom (-7.0 per cent) and from Canada (-1.9 per cent) during the quarter. In contrast, arrivals from all other countries were up by 3.2 per cent.

    “The decline in air arrivals resulted in a 6.6 per cent drop in bookings at tourist accommodations. Guest houses registered the strongest decrease, falling 32.3 per cent. Occupancy at resort hotels fell by 10.1 per cent while visitors staying at housekeeping accommodations also declined by 9.0 per cent. The number of guests staying at small hotels & cottage colonies and private homes declined by 3.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively.”