By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A 78 percent increase in arrivals to the cruise lines’ private Bahamian islands was the sole factor driving increased visitor numbers during January 2020, it was revealed yesterday.

K Peter Turnquest, unveiling the government’s fiscal and economic plans to combat the coronavirus fall-out, told the House of Assembly that the cruise industry’s increased use of private destinations such as Coco Cay and Half Moon Cay had more than offset both the decline in air arrivals and a 20.4 percent fall in cruise passengers visiting Nassau/Paradise Island.

“According to the Ministry of Tourism, preliminary data show a decline in stopovers of 12.5 percent for January and 26.5 percent for February 2020, as capacity in Abaco and Grand Bahama remains largely constrained,” Mr Turnquest said.

“Although cruise visitors increased by 11.3 percent in January, this was largely on account of a 77.9 percent gain in arrivals to the cruise lines’ private islands as such arrivals to Nassau/Paradise Island contracted by 20.4 percent.”

Mr Turnquest’s comments are likely to increase scepticism, and heighten fears, that Royal Caribbean’s planned Royal Beach Club on the western end of Paradise Island will further tip the balance in the favour of the cruise industry and deprive Bahamian-owned businesses of much-needed guests and passenger spending.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism, in his subsequent House of Assembly address focused on the 7.9 percent increase in total arrivals experienced during January 2020 without acknowledging the key role played by the cruise lines’ private islands.

While admitting that there had been “slower than anticipated air arrivals in January 2020”, Mr D’Aguilar placed the focus on the prior year’s performance. “The Ministry of Tourism’s statistics indicate that, with the record arrival of some 7.2m visitors in 2019, our industry had its best year ever,” he added.

“Our air arrivals grew by 6.7 percent, our cruise traffic grew by 10.3 percent, and our total arrivals grew by grew 9.4 percent. Unprecedented and historic.... We were well on our way towards an accelerated recovery, vastly ahead of schedule, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.”