By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Air arrivals for December 2021 reached close to 85 percent of their pre-COVID levels, the Central Bank revealed yesterday, increasing almost four-fold compared to 2020 figures.

The regulator, in its monthly economic assessment for January 2022, also disclosed that total room nights sold in January 2022 among Bahamian vacation rentals more than doubled year-over-year to exceed 113,000.

And The Bahamas’ post-pandemic re-opening last year resulted in a 17.1 percent increase in total arrivals for the full year that was largely driven by a rebound in stopover visitors. Cruise passenger numbers rebounded much more slowly in the second half as that industry resumed sailing.

“The latest available data from the Ministry of Tourism showed that total visitor arrivals by first port of entry expanded to 500,718 in December, from a mere 33,681 in the corresponding period of 2020, when international borders reopened with restrictions,” the Central Bank said. 

“Underlying this outturn, air arrivals rose to 118,501 from 30,009 in the previous year—representing 84.6 percent of the air visitors recorded in 2019. In addition, sea traffic recovered to 382,217, relative to a volume of just 3,672 in the prior year.”

Turning to the tourism figures on an annual basis, the Central Bank provided only percentages - not the actual figures. “On an annual basis, total arrivals rebounded by 17.1 percent in 2021, a reversal from a 75.2 percent reduction in 2020,” it said

“Underlying this outturn, air arrivals rebounded sharply by 111.9 percent following a 74.8 percent contraction in 2020, as all major markets registered gains during the review year. Further, the decrease in sea traffic moderated to 11.8 percent from a 75.4 percent fall-off in 2020.”

Last year’s tourism figures were up against weak comparatives from 2020’s COVID shutdown, and a better gauge of The Bahamas’ recovery momentum is to compare them with 2019 numbers. “A breakdown by major ports of entry revealed that total arrivals to New Providence advanced to 231,139 from 18,525 a year earlier,” the Central Bank said of December 2021.

“Contributing to this development, the sea and air segments measured 91,532 and 139,607, respectively. Foreign arrivals to Grand Bahama increased to 12,355, extending the volume of a mere 1,573 registered a year earlier, as air and sea arrivals amounted to 2,303 and 10,052, respectively.

“Further, traffic to the Family Islands strengthened to 257,224 from 13,583 in the prior year, supported by improvements in the air and sea components to 24,666 and 232,558, respectively.” The Family Island arrivals, based on the Central Bank’s data, exceeded those for New Providence.

As for January 2022, the report added: “Further cementing trends, data provided by the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) revealed that total departures - net of domestic passengers - rose to 77,171 in January from 23,099 in the corresponding month of 2021.

“In particular, US departures increased to 65,200 from 20,190 in the prior year, while non-US departures firmed to 11,971 from 2,909 a year earlier.” And the vacation rental market proved just as buoyant.

“In the vacation rental market, data provided by AirDNA for the month of January indicated steady gains in the demand for short-term rentals. Specifically, during the review month, total room nights sold rose more than two-fold to 113,559 from 41,064 in the corresponding 2021 period,” the Central Bank report said.

“Reflective of this outcome, occupancy rates for both entire place and hotel comparable listings firmed to 50.8 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively, from 29.1 percent and 30.5 percent in the comparative COVID-19 constrained period last year.

“Price indicators showed that, year-over-year, the average daily rate (ADR) for hotel comparable listings moved higher by 17.2 percent to $177.75, and for entire place listings by 14.5 percent to $483.07.”

The Central Bank’s economic outlook for The Bahamas, though, remains little changed as it forecast “modest growth momentum in 2022” that will be sustained by tourism’s rebound. 

“The speed of the rebound in the tourism sector towards pre-COVID-19 levels remains reliant on continued alleviation of globally-imposed travel restrictions, strengthening of public health sector infrastructures and broadening of vaccination access across countries,” it added.

“In terms of the labour market, the unemployment rate is projected to remain above pre-pandemic levels, with any job gains concentrated mainly in the construction sector and the full re-engagement of tourism sector employees.”