BTA: Third Quarter Vacation Air Arrivals Up 18%
“On-island visitor spending, vacation air arrivals and hotel occupancy all surged higher in the third quarter further improving an already strong year for the Bermuda tourism industry,” the Bermuda Tourism Authority said, adding that “led by an impressive 31 percent jump in the month of September, vacation air arrivals are up 18 percent for the third quarter.”
“Third quarter numbers have exceeded our expectations,” said BTA CEO Bill Hanbury. “In the busiest quarter of the year we generated some of the strongest growth.
“Ten thousand additional vacation air arrivals in the third quarter is our biggest indication yet that the Bermuda tourism economy is into a sustained recovery after decades of decline.”
The BTA added, “This year’s visitor statistics through September mark the highest number of vacation air arrivals since 2008. Many other key performance indicators for the tourism industry are similarly testing heights not seen in almost 10 years:
- Hotel occupancy was up 18 percent in September; up 12 percent in the third quarter and up nearly eight percent year-to-date when compared to 2015
- Estimated leisure air visitor spending poured directly into the Bermuda economy rose 29 percent in the third quarter when compared to the same period last year because there were not only 18 percent more visitors, but on average they spent more per person
- Overall vacation/leisure air arrivals are up 14 percent through the third quarter
“A dramatic increase in leisure air arrivals from the United States [+23%] more than covered declining air visitor traffic from Canada [-4%] and the United Kingdom [-11%] in the third quarter, similar to the first two quarters of 2016.
“Growth from the Middle Atlantic region – particularly New York and New Jersey – has been especially strong with a 26 percent bump so far this year among leisure air travellers.
Mr Hanbury noted: “Increased airlift from the New York metropolitan area along with strategic marketing focused on the people who live in that area have brought success for the destination. It’s a strategy we think has the potential for even more growth as we move into 2017 and beyond.”
The BTA said, “A continued trend of younger travellers raises optimism about the sustainability of a Bermuda tourism recovery. In the third quarter air travellers between 25 and 34 years-old saw the largest percentage increase with 44 percent more vacationers than in the third quarter of 2015.
“So far this year, every age category of air vacation arrivals is showing growth. The desirable 25 to 34 category is showing the largest percentage growth, up 33 percent through September.
“In January of 2016 the BTA introduced a fresh brand identity for the destination designed to resonate with the next generation of Bermuda’s visitors.”
Tourism Measures 3rd Quarter 2016 [PDF here]
Tourism Measures September 2016 [PDF here]
Well played BTA!
1 ….We had a large number of visitors travel to Bermuda as a result of the zika virus out break in the other Caribbean islands. The zika virus still exist in Miami but the media doesn’t focus on it anymore. Think about it people.
2…..We had a large number of visitors travel to Bermuda during the week that every single island in the Caribbean was experiencing Hurricane Matthew. Instead of people cancelling their vacation they choose last minute deals to Bermuda. Think about it people.
My friend who works for this group explained that people believe what they read and what people read never has anything to do with the truth.
It’s a version of the truth. All statistics can have many contributor factors. You can’t possibly distinguish the effects of all of them on increasing numbers.
But remain positive! If we had increased visitors, no matter the reason, then maybe they will make a return visit!
Hurricane Matthew did not hit ‘every single island’ in the Caribbean. But it was during October, which is in the fourth quarter, not the third quarter. Even when you tell lies you eff it up. You people are such morons.
Clearly he/she is not a very GOOD travel agent. #goodtrythough
lol….
Who are “you people”?
People who will spout lies and nonsense to try to discredit Bermuda’s successes.
Would you have preferred the phrase ‘people of your ilk’?
Can you not accept this positive news rather than attempting to spin it negatively?
As a ‘Travel Agent’ I would have thought it was the most important part of your job to know that Bermuda isn’t a Caribbean island as you’ve wrongly inferred.
People traveled here because of the promotion of Bermuda and getting the right message in front of the right people. It has nothing to do with Zika or Matthew for that matter. Matthew occurred in October, these stats go as far as September.
Think about it…..
Hurricane Mathew occurred in October. You’re obviously not aware that October falls into the fourth quarter. Sad but true.
Zika virus? Really? And I suppose the Ebola outbreak in Africa scuppered that lucrative Black Mayor’s Conference too.
Really Travel Agent??–you harbour that much hate not to be able to simply give credit where it is due.
There is a group of Bermudian that have worked their butts off under the pupilage of Mr. Hanbury and they have done a great job.
The Dept of Tourism uhad run its course and new blood and ideas were needed. Its not critical of anyone–just a change was needed–
I think you are a bit disingenuous attributing success to two isolated incidents-
I have hope that eventually your heart warms as you will see the world very differently!!!
Have a blessed day.
1) Credit to Govt and BTA getting message out that we were Zika free !!!!!! thanks for patting the Govt on the back.
2) Mathew didn’t form until late September in the atlantic. and was not at strongest until October, so people would have already bee on vacation. Besides that….If people did cancel and rebook, they had the whole world to choose for an alternate vacation, but honed in on Bermuda. So guess what, it means the BTA are doing the job to get people to choose here.
Your weak and futile attempt to discredit results has in fact given further praise to the BTA and Govt.
29th of September it became a hurricane way deep down just off the coast of South America.
We’re talking about whether it could have had any effect at all on the 3Q. If it formed on September 29, then the answer is ‘no’, isn’t it.
Wow, those tourists must be clairvoyant! They already knew in July, August and September that Hurricane Matthew would hit the Caribbean in October! Amazing!
I wish I’d asked them for the winning lottery numbers while they were here. Darnit!
1) People avoiding Zika are a tiny part of the travelers to Bermuda…maybe 1%
2) You’re kidding right? Typical Bermuda travelers book months in advance of their trip. We didn’t get one visitor to the Island because of Matthew which happened in Oct. These numbers don’t cover October.
At least get the facts straight.
You might well be right. It’s important to be wary of figures showing big, short-term jumps. As they say on Wall Street, even a dead cat will bounce once when it hits the ground.
The long term tourism trend is still terrible and it should take six or more quarters of growth for anyone to start thinking that tourism is really turning around.
3) You aren’t too sharp.
Who uses a Travel Agent?
@Travel Agent. Did you vote for yourself and are you related to Donald Trump and too have the conspiracy theory introduced into your BS comments here. Your remarkable, nothing more to say
Well played Indeed. Their budget got increased so they were able to market more and…. more tourists came to Bermuda.
Imagine that, more marketing = more tourists.. Only took the OBA 4 years to get it right.
Yep ,thats right @Simlpe Thinking, it took 4 years, and its something the PLP FAILED AT FOR 14 YEARS!
Not really! This was the largest increase since 2008. The PLP was the Government in 2008, right?
What was the budget in 2008 and the preceding 3 years compared to the BTA’s current budget and what they’ve had for the past 2 years? Much better return from the BTA, methinks…
The BTA is not the OBA you muppet. They are not Govt. They are a group of fellow Bermudians who care about your country (well its a job for them).
How much was that Global Hue contract for ….. go compare then you will realize you are talking absolute nonsense !
To be fair, GH’s main objective wasn’t really Bermuda’s tourism.
Well done BTA.. Probably still won’t silence the critics.
Thank you for not getting discouraged when confronted by rude displays of disrespect when you joined to help us dig out from the mess we created for ourselves in the international tourism space.
You are a gentleman and a true professional and Bermuda owes you a significant thanks. Your strategy is paying off.
Also you have developed a very capable team of Bermudian talent to lead this effort forward.
Thank you Sir for standing with Bermuda and Bermudians!!!
Go BTA!! Well done to an amazing, dedicated team!
The PLP needs to show humility and apologize for the heavy criticism they gave to Bill Hanbury and the BTA. At they very least they should offer their congrats. Well done BTA!
I don’t think humility and apologizing are in the PLP’s playbook.
While the PLP are worrying about petty little immigration issues the OBA are taking care of the people’s business
Betty, where art thou
Fantastic. Great news.
Mark, right on , no word from Onion Juice either, thank goodness
or Robain.
While there remains a considerably tough track to follow (Cuba market and other less expensive rival destinations), the work of the BTA appears to be finally resulting in a sustained growth trend. This bodes well for the economy as a whole. Congratulations to the BTA and the teams they have working to improve our tourism product and make us a destination of choice.
Glad to see BTA working for Bermudians rather than foreigners like plp biu ame.
So I guess forming the BTA was the right decision after all. I agree that the PLP need to apologize to a lot of folks for their harsh and unwarranted criticisms. Too bad we are losing Hanbury just when things are going very well. Well done BTA!!
To use 2008 as a benchmark is ludicrous. 2008 was the midst of the financial crisis, which saw stock markets plummet, countries go bankrupt, major financial institutions fell and massive layoffs worldwide.
These numbers are simply an improvement over the dismal previous year’s performance. There is nothing phenomenal about these numbers.
Not really, Lehman brothers collapsed in mid September 2008. If the BTA really wanted to cherry pick a benchmark they could have used 2009/2010 when the crisis really started to bite. The actual air arrival figures (in thousands) are below, you’ll see that 2008 is actually comparable to 2005:
2004 – 272
2005 – 270
2006 – 299
2007 – 305
2008 – 263
2009 – 236
2010 – 232
2011 – 236
2012 – 232
2013 – 236 (this is the year the BTA was established)
2014 – 224
2015 – 220
Yes 2015 is down from 2013. Change isn’t instantaneous. It takes a few years to put new contracts and policies in place. The fact that 2016 is looking like an improvement particularly with young people is a great indication of good future progress. Its ok, you can get on board.
Why don’t we use 2012. The last year of PLP misrule, and several years after the USA came out of recession. That’s a fair baseline.
Only one answer to all this good news.
Reverend Tweed and the AME Church are to be thanked.
Praise the Lord.
You don’t know what you are talking about fllkel. 2008 was the best year Bermuda had in tourism since the boon years. It has been the benchmark ever since. From 2009 until 2015 we saw year over year declines in tourism but to have 9 straight months of growth and an 18% increase in the 3rd quarter is outstanding. Next year with the America’s Cup will even be better. It’s amazing how we can’t even give credit when there is very good news. So sad.
Remember people. A lot of people have been visiting due to AC35 and that is why the numbers are up. So remember if the AC35 was not here the numbers would still be down. And AC35 was brought here by Dr Gibbons and not the BTA. Don’t let them fool you.
Somuchless, wrong on all counts. They count America’s Cup visitors at the airport on the immigration forms. These number have nothing to do with AC…unless NYC visitors now has a team in the event. Go look at the report. And why do you think Gibbons had anything to do with getting AC? That was BTA, The Yacht Club and private citizens. Government backed it, which is great, but they had nothing to do with attracting AC. Don’t fool us.