The Grand Baha Mar Hotel Photo Credit: THE GRAND BAHA MAR
THE BAHAMAS — Hurricane Dorian, which devastated the Abaco Islands and Freeport, Bahamas with wicked Cat. 5 force winds between Aug. 24 through Sept. 10, did not stop The Bahamas from seeing record-breaking visits to the islands, according to The Bahamas Department of Immigration, Port Authority and Customs.
The department said 2019 saw the highest number of arrivals of both air and see in the country's history. Foreign air and sea arrivals totaled 7.2 million by the end of 2019, an increase of 9 percent year-over-year. Stopover arrivals, which saw Americans accounting for the largest percentage with 1.45 million visitors, recorded its highest gain with 1.78 million in 2019.
“It is with great pride and pleasure that I report The Bahamas’ strongest tourism numbers in history,” said Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Dionisio D’Aguilar. “We look forward to building upon the success of our marketing efforts and continuing the momentum in 2020 as we show the world that The Bahamas continues to be Open For Business and has so much to offer visitors.”
“This tremendous achievement would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the team behind the scenes at the Ministry of Tourism as well as our industry and agency partners,” said Director General, Joy Jibrilu.
While Dorian slammed the Abaco Islands and Freeport, The Bahamas' largest population is in Nassau, the capital of New Providence, boasting 393,224 residents. New Providence also has some of the Caribbean's best-known resorts — Atlantis and The Baha Mar come to mind.
Since 2009, The Bahamas has seen year-on-year growth in both air and sea arrivals with a remarkable 52 percent growth in 10 years.
