By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Average occupancy rates of 42-45 percent mean Family Island resorts have “a ton of potential for growth”, a senior tourism executive said yesterday, with short-term airline bookings up 4 percent through August.

Kerry Fountain, the Bahama Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business that despite the 11 percent year-over-year increases in both room revenues and room nights sold that member hotels enjoyed during the 2025 first quarter there remains much room for further expansion in Family Island tourism.

Revealing that Acklins, Andros, Bimini, Long Island and San Salvador all enjoyed an uptick in room nights sold for the three months to end-March, he added that Abaco “showed a slight decline” while Eleuthera, Exuma and Cat Island were also down year-over-year. However, Abaco’s pricing power ensured that its room revenues increased compared to 2024, as did those for all the islands that enjoyed higher room nights sold.

However, both Eleuthera and Exuma were “down double digits” on 2025 first quarter room revenues, while Cat Island was flat. And Mr Fountain reiterated to this newspaper that Promotion Board member resorts are adopting a “cautious” near-term outlook, particularly beyond end-July and mid-August, when US students return to school, due to the prevailing tariff-related uncertainty hitting business and consumer confidence.

Still, despite the overall 4 percent decline in stopover visitors to The Bahamas for the 2025 first quarter, Mr Fountain revealed that short-term forward bookings for the Family Islands - as measured by the number of airline tickets sold - were ahead of 2024 comparatives by 4 percent for the May through August 2025 period.

Explaining that the data was provided by the Forward Keys consultancy, and based on ticket sales by airlines which are members of the global distribution system (GDS), he added: “We ran a report on April 20. If you look at it starting in May through August of this year, compared to May through August last year for airline tickets sold, this year we are up 4 percent compared to the same period last year.

“Airports that have positive booking trends include Marsh Harbour, North Eleuthera, Governor’s Harbour and San Salvador. Airports with a negative booking pace include Bimini and Georgetown. We’re seeing Exuma come up again on the wrong side of the fence.”

Mr Fountain said the Promotion Board and its members were not seeking to “boast” about their 2025 first quarter performance, and added: “I share that in one breath, but on the other there’s a ton of potential for us to grow. I don’t ever talk about hotel occupancies. Those are still low in the Family Islands; you’re talking about 42-45 percent.

“While room nights sold and room revenues are up, there’s still plenty of room for growth given our business levels.”

Mr Fountain said airlines that use the GDS, and whose Bahamas forward bookings and ticket sales were included in the Forward Keys survey, include the likes of American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Bahamasair. Not included are smaller carriers such as Western Air, Tropic Ocean Airways and Makers Air simply because they are not part of the GDS.

The Promotion Board chief, though, reiterated that while the Trump tariff-related economic uncertainty may have helped to dampen 2025 first quarter arrivals to the entire Bahamas, it was unlikely to be “the sole reason” for the declining numbers.

“I think it’s the competition we face from the cruise lines, and the competition we face in terms of the product they offer, because they are floating resorts,” he told Tribune Business. “Not only is their product top-notch but the average cruise price is very attractive for the middle income market.

“The cruise business is causing some erosion when it comes to our stopover business. We can all sit around and moan and groan about it, but one of my members, Cheryl Bastian, always says: ‘Control what we can control’.”

Mr Fountain said the strategy to combat, and mitigate, the fall-out from global economic uncertainty includes “looking at Canada”. But he added: “We can’t just show up in Canada and think business is going to come, particularly to the Family Islands”. 

He added that “we have to be the ones running” after the airlines to make the case for increased routes and airlift capacity, and for Bahamasair to seal an inter-line agreement with the likes of Air Canada to provide seamless connectivity both ways between Nassau and the Family Islands.

“Once that’s in place, the Bahama Out Island Promotion Board can come into the marketplace,” Mr Fountain explained. While Bahamasair and inter-line agreements with international carriers will provide greater airlift accessibility, he added that the ‘fly free’ promotion will generate affordability.

The current offering, launched on April 21 and running until May 19, 2025, for the booking window through to October 31, will provide one free air ticket between Nassau and a Family Island for a four-night stay at a member property, and two free tickets for a seven-night stay.

“In essence, what we are doing is making it just as affordable to get to a Family Island as Nassau,” Mr Fountain explained. “By having inter-lie agreements between Bahamasair and the likes of Air Canada, we are fixing accessibility, and with fly free from Nassau we are addressing affordability.”

He added that the Promotion Board is seeking to extend this offer to Bahamians, residents and European travellers, as well as working with the Ministry of Tourism to tap into the Latin American market. Mr Fountain said he has also met with the Agricultural Development Organisation (ADO) to explore how hotels with sufficient unused land can start growing their own produce.

“These are all the things we are doing given the present situation,” he told Tribune Business. “It’s going to cause us to look at new markets but, at the end of the day, our bread is buttered from business in the US. We just have to be a bit more creative as we were during the COVID-19 pandemic. Back then it was a health crisis; now it’s a potential economic crisis.”