BTA: “Fifth Consecutive Quarter Of Growth”
[Updated with video] “Leisure air arrivals and the amount of money those visitors spend in the local economy were both up sharply in the first quarter of 2017 when compared to the same period a year ago, making for the fifth consecutive quarter of growth for the Bermuda tourism industry,” the Bermuda Tourism Authority said today.
The BTA said, “Between January and March 2017, leisure air arrivals grew 19 percent year-over-year and air vacationer spending surged 30.5 percent. There have been 15 consecutive months of growth for the local tourism industry dating back to January 2016.”
“The number of leisure air arrivals [21,702] is the highest since 2008, representing $26.3 million in estimated direct spending on-island. The expenditure figure grew $6.1 million in the first three months of the year when compared to the same time period the year before.
“Business air arrivals and business visitor spending also saw sharp increases in the first quarter, bringing total spending to $42.7 million over the three months. The period from January to March makes up more than half of the shoulder season.
“Among vacationers travelling to Bermuda by air, the trend of visitors under 45 years old continues to grow impressively. In the first quarter of 2017, 94 percent of the growth was in travellers under age 45.
“According to Bermuda Tourism Authority officials, demographic trends that skew younger are critical to the sustainable growth of the Bermuda tourism industry going forward.
“Hotel occupancy in the first quarter was up 22 percent when compared to the same period in 2016. The performance represents an 8 percent move from 35.8 percent occupancy to 43.8 percent occupancy over the first quarter of 2016. Revenue for hotels was also up notably.”
“Additionally, for the first time, the Bermuda Tourism Authority has released vacation rental data as part of its quarterly reporting, which can be viewed online. The vacation rental information will be updated monthly going forward.
“The publication of vacation rental performance data will allow the public to see what percentage of visitors choose this accommodation type. The Bermuda Tourism Authority will release more detailed information about vacation rentals tomorrow.”
Bermuda Tourism Authority CEO Kevin Dallas said: “These performance numbers are gratifying to the Bermuda Tourism Authority because every day we chase two chief objectives: grow demand for air vacationers to Bermuda through targeted marketing and improve product and experiences on-island so that visitor spending goes up.
“The past 15 months of results are proof that our sales and marketing team in New York and our product and experiences team here in Bermuda are hitting their marks, and Bermudians who have their livelihoods in tourism are benefiting.”
Mr Dallas said: “While we still have a long way to go to get things where we want them in the shoulder season, the progress being made is sizeable. The results confirm the Bermuda Tourism Authority’s shoulder season strategy to attract sports, social and business groups is working to bring volume during the winter months.”
The BTA’s 2017 first quarter statistics follow below [PDF here]:
You would be a fool to believe Americas Cup isn’t having an impact on tourist numbers..the real questions are..
Will the debt created by hosting such an event pay off long term..
Are the concession currently being given which are not reflected in the public funding to the private BTA Company
Are they sustainable.
Yes. It will, if it hasn’t already.
Bob Richards told us that the reason we were in recession in Q4 2016 was that Q4 2015 had such an influx of tourists and money due to an AC prelude event was so big it had a massive impact on our GDP. Now, BTA is telling us that we experience growth in the tourism sector between Q4 2016 and Q4 2015? Looks like Bob’s explanation doesn’t hold water. Fact is Bermuda’s economy shrank into recession even as our economy improved!
#OBAUBPFacts #BobsFakeNews
That is your fake news because he never said we were in recession Burt and Ernie did. This is the crap that the plp want us to believe?
There was no recession lmfao! Pigs can fly….
It’s funny that nothing from the BTA mentions ZIKA, when that is the real reason that young travelers are coming to Bermuda.
Yes the BTA are responsible for marketing Bermuda as a Zika free destination, but if it wasn’t for zika we would not have seen this growth.
Working at the airport we see it everyday, with mommies to be getting off the plane babymooning in Bermuda.
Bermuda is lucky that we are zika free, but BTA should state the obvious.
No matter what the PLP says, they can’t take away the oba has turned the country around, it’s easy to see, nobody has to to tell us one way or the other.
The PLP will lose the election
Tell the Dunk to call it after America’s Cup if you are so sure lolol.