BTA Tourism ‘Next Level’ Summit 2018

Hamilton, Bermuda (November 15, 2018) – Bermuda’s tourism industry is on pace to have its second consecutive year of record visitor arrivals.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority released 2018 third quarter arrival statistics today, revealing the eleventh consecutive quarter of growth for leisure air arrivals and spending. Vacation air arrivals were up 10 percent in the third quarter and spending from the same group of visitors was up 9 percent. Year to date, those performance indicators are up 13.6 percent and 10.6 percent respectively.

The latest numbers put Bermuda on track to follow 2017’s record-breaking performance with another year of record arrival numbers when cruise visitors are factored into the equation.

Through September 30, 2018, all key performance indicators are up when compared to 2017 including leisure air arrivals, leisure air visitor spending, cruise arrivals, hotel occupancy and vacation rental stays.

BTA CEO Kevin Dallas said: “The measurement we focus on more than any other at the Bermuda Tourism Industry is leisure visitors by air. Performance in that area is up 26 percent in arrivals and up 35 percent in spending since the streak of quarterly growth began back in January 2016. By any measure that is a remarkable performance that every member of our team and every one of our stakeholders can be very proud of.”

When compared to 2016, an additional $64 million was spent in Bermuda’s tourism economy this year (through September 30). That spending was fueled by an additional 35,000 leisure air visitors over the same time period. Cruise visitor spending is tabulated at the end of the year.

One area showing signs of slowing is the number of available airline seats flying to Bermuda. Air capacity was down 2.5 percent in the third quarter but remains up almost 4 percent year-to-date.

“Growing airlift has proven to be a precursor to vacation air arrival growth in Bermuda over the past several years,” said Mr Dallas. “If that trend reverses it would be an obstacle for further growth. It’s something we are watching closely as we do our forecasting for 2019.”

The full 2018 Q3 Visitor Arrivals Report is available on the Bermuda Tourism Authority corporate website, with a media briefing presentation also available online.